Assassin's Creed: The Rising
by EADF
Summary: Cut away from the outside world and haunted by nightmares, Claudia Auditore is drowning in misery until Niccolò Machiavelli walks into her life. Urged by her Mother, Claudia dons the Assassin's robes and little by little learns the ways of the Order with the help of Machiavelli.
1. Chapter 1

It was a dream. It had to be. There was no other way of explaining the scene that was unfolding before her. The walls of her room in Monteriggioni were in need of repair. The windows had no glass or doors but wooden boards to shield her from the harsh winds and her bed was a small cot stuffed shabbily with hay. But the room in front of her now was far from all that.

The walls were patterned with red flowers, the curtains were red and made of rich fabric, and her bed was large and comfortable. Outside the window was a box of flowers and she could smell the jasmine spreading its sweet scent throughout the entire room. She had a dresser (in Monteriggioni she had only a small mirror and a clumsily constructed small table to hold her comb and pins) on which lay a range of different scents gifted by her Father whenever he returned from his travels.

No, she wasn't in Monteriggioni anymore. This was a dream because she was in Firenze and her life hadn't fallen apart yet.

It was 1476 again and she was humming to herself in her room when the front door burst open. At first, she thought nothing of it. Her brothers were always up to some mischief and it wasn't unusual for neighbors to come in such a fashion and demand that they be left alone by them; especially their daughters. So she went to her bed and straightened her sheets, lost in her thoughts of what she would wear tomorrow, when a shrill cry broke out.

Her heart skipped a beat and she paused midway of picking up her pillows.

"Mama!" Petruccio cried.

Claudia immediately left everything the way it was and rushed downstairs to find her Father being dragged from his office by two guards. Her heart thudded loudly and a chill went up her spine.

"What is going on?" she asked, although she very well knew what was going on. It was a dream after all- a recurring one.

"Go into your room." Her father ordered.

But she still stood there. From inside the room she heard a scuffle and a cry of pain.

"Mother!" she called.

"Go inside!" her Father repeated and struggled as the guards put his arms behind his back.

Claudia put her hand on her mouth as Federico was dragged out from his room. "Let me go stronzo!" he screamed. The guard hauling him struck him hard across the face.

"Aiuto!" Petruccio cried. Claudia started towards him only to be reprimanded by her Father to go inside her room.

"Where are they taking you?" she asked. In her mind she already knew the answer and what was about to happen next.

Before her Father could open his mouth, the scene vaporized in front of her and she found herself a few hours later. Ezio was talking to her and she had to take a couple of seconds to clear away her mind before she could understand what he was saying.

"Do not worry piccina." He consoled her.

Claudia hugged him tight. "I am so scared."

"Annetta will take you to her sister's." he said in a calm voice, although she could hear his heart thudding wildly in his chest.

"Where will you go?" she asked.

Ezio smiled down at her. "I will return soon with our family." He promised.

Claudia jolted violently from her dream and gasped for breath. Her hands and feet were cold while her forehead dripped with sweat. She clutched at her bed sheets and waited until the dream receded back in her mind.

She was safe now. Her Father and brothers weren't, but she was. In the other room she heard a low voice and found herself close to tears. It had been more than ten years, yet her Mother was still in a state of shock after the terrible events that had befallen the Auditore family.

Claudia got out of her bed and looked at the curtains fluttering in the wind. It was a cold night, but it was nothing compared to the coldness in her heart. She started to close the windows when she heard voices from outside. In the darkness, she spotted seven figures coming towards the Monteriggioni Villa.

She recognized two of them as her Uncle and Brother. The rest were unknown to her. She closed the windows and crept downstairs. The people had entered through the doors and heading towards her Uncle's office.

"I can't believe we failed!" a woman said.

Claudia felt her heart sink. These were the words she had been hearing for quite some time now. Her Brother would be trained exhaustively and then sent on a mission, only to produce the same results over and over again. It wasn't his fault that he had been thrust into the world of Assassins and he did try earnestly, but clearly he didn't possess the same skills their Father had. That was something else her Uncle had repeatedly said.

"Uncle." She called when she saw him enter dejectedly.

"Claudia." He said tiredly. "Go back to sleep."

"What is going on?" she asked and walked towards him.

"We have failed once more." He replied and shook his head. "The Assassins need your brother to be capable."

"He is trying, Uncle." She assured him. "He practices day and night. But it is his health that hinders his progress."

Her Uncle said nothing, but she could see that he looked disappointed. The Assassins were losing to the Templars and if something wasn't done soon enough, they would lose everything they had fought so hard for.

"Can I get you and your guests anything?"

Her Uncle looked towards his office where she heard her Brother arguing with someone about how he had tried his best and that he didn't want to be here in the first place.

"I cannot believe you are an Auditore!" She heard someone say.

"Scusami." Uncle Mario said and walked into his office. "Silenzio. Must you all argue so loudly? You will wake up the whole town!"

Claudia sighed and walked into her own little office. She pulled out her chair and sat down. It was still the dead of night, but between the nightmare and the argument going on, there was very little chance that sleep would be coming.

She lit a candle and then opened her accounts book. Like everything in her life right now, the accounts were dismal. There was very little money coming in Monteriggioni and more going out. Due to the lack of funds, the Blacksmith stall had to be closed down and the only shop open here was the Doctor's. Not many travelers chose to come this far to Monteriggioni to just visit the Doctor.

She looked at the adjoining table and saw the model the Architect had made up. So far, none of the buildings had been fully renovated and it cost too much to bring in the guilds here. Claudia tapped her quill in her book and tried to block out the raised voices coming from the other room.

Sometimes she wished she knew someone here. It had been very lonely over the past few years. Her Mother still hadn't spoken to her, her Brother was always travelling and even the architect whom she shared the office with, was too busy to even acknowledge her existence. The little interaction she had was with her Uncle who was always busy with his own affairs.

Claudia frowned and closed the book. There wasn't much work to do anyway. She considered going into the office and introducing herself, but chances were that no one would notice her, or worse, pull her into their quarrel.

She leaned back in her chair and found herself unable to stop herself from going back to the night that had invaded her dreams. That horrible night had changed everything for her. What was worse were the following events. She would never forget Ezio for what he had done. Never!

"May I come in?"

Claudia blinked as a man entered the doorway. He had short brown hair, dark eyes and a narrow mouth. Dressed in red elegant clothes, he appeared to be a nobleman.

"Si?" she said and started to get up.

"Do not trouble yourself." He said. "I was only looking for a pitcher of water."

Claudia sat back down and fumbled with her quill. The man was clearly one of her Uncle's guest and also her very first interaction with someone else other than her own family member.

"I…" she swallowed. "I could get you some."

The man considered this and then smiled kindly at her. "If it is no trouble."

"None at all." She said getting up. "I'm sure all of you must be tired from your journey. I would gladly make arrangements for food and water."

The man bowed his head. "Grazie."

Claudia smiled at him and stepped forward, slightly disappointed that her interaction had come to an end. The man would undoubtedly go on his way and she would never see him again or she would, but he would be too busy to ever talk to her again.

Claudia chewed on her lip. She was being a little pathetic, she scolded herself. But the truth was she did long for company after spending so many lonely days in Monteriggioni.

"You must be Claudia." The man spoke again.

She turned around and smiled. "Si. How did you…?"

"Mario speaks very fondly of you." He smiled.

"Oh." She said in a small voice. If anything, she sought happiness in the fact that her Uncle spoke of her if not to her, that often.

The man put his hands behind his back. "I must apologize for not introducing myself." He said. "I am Niccolò Machiavelli."

Claudia smiled back at him. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you too." He said and kissed her hand.


	2. Chapter 2

After Machiavelli had left the room, Claudia immersed herself back in her thoughts. It felt nice to be noticed after such a long time and if her Uncle hadn't called for him, perhaps they could have spent more time chatting.

She walked towards Annetta's room and found her sleeping. It wouldn't do to wake her up so early as the day ahead promised more household chores, now that there were guests here. She closed the door and walked towards the kitchen.

From the other room, she heard loud voices and wished they would all stop arguing already. Her brother was trying really hard, but had failed every mission up till now. The Templars were winning and Claudia wondered if they should just leave this fight. What had it gotten them all so far? More than half her family was dead, her Brother had become distant, her Mother had been traumatized and her Uncle was so fixated on this meaningless war that he had never thought to settle down and have a family of his own. At least as far as she knew, he didn't have a wife or even a lover.

Claudia poured water in seven glasses and placed them on a tray. As the voices grew even louder, she wondered when they would eventually see that they needed to back down before more of them got hurt. She barely knew them, but now that they were working with her Brother, she didn't want to see anything terrible happen to them, especially not Machiavelli.

_He seemed nice,_ Claudia thought distractedly as she picked up the tray, careful to balance it in her hands. In the short interaction that they shared, he had been friendly, yet at first glance she had guessed he had more of a reclusive demeanor. Like her Mother had once told her- she shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

She carried the tray towards her Uncle's office and then halted. Uncle Mario was deep in conversation with Machiavelli near the bookshelves, two women were lamenting on how the skills they had taught her brother was proving to be fruitless, while two skinny mean were leaning over the table and reprimanding her Brother for being so careless.

"I am trying." He said weakly, but the two men paid no heed and continued to badger him about his pitiful combat skills.

"You cannot even run fast enough." One of them said. He was wearing a light brown hooded cloak and skinny breeches. His eyes were those of a hunters and his nose sharp.

"We almost got caught." The other one said. He had shoulder-length dark hair, dark eyes and a thin mustache. "If it hadn't been for my thieves, we would have been done for."

"Our thieves." The first man corrected.

Claudia took a deep breath and entered the office. She had at least hoped to introduce herself to these strangers, but given the situation, they didn't look like they wanted to engage in friendly banter. She walked towards her Brother and saw him lace his fingers in his long hair. He looked gaunt and pale. There were dark circles under his eyes and tired lines on his face. He kept massaging his forehead as the two men scolded him some more.

She set the tray down on the table and watched her Brother lean back in the chair. He would never do this, but Claudia was certain he was close to tears and the two men were throwing him further towards the edge. Fearing that her Brother may give in to his emotions and have an outburst in front of all his peers and suffer embarrassment, she surprised herself by stepping forward.

"Leave him alone!" she blurted. She was amazed at her own bluntness, but as her Brother's skin turned a sickly grey, she couldn't help herself.

Everyone in the room suddenly went quiet and turned to look at her, but she ignored them. Walking over to his side, she put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright, Brother?"

He looked at her listlessly and then his eyes suddenly widened. Claudia quickly stepped away as her Brother bent over and vomited on the floor.

"Oh!" she heard one of the women gasp.

Her Brother wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his tunic and massaged his head. "I feel terrible."

Claudia walked over to the other side and helped her Brother up. Putting an arm around him, she tried to lift him and started to lose her balance when Machiavelli rushed to her side and took her Brother's other arm.

Claudia looked at him in gratitude and they helped carry her brother to his bedroom. Once inside, they laid him down on his bed and her Brother mumbled something incoherent.

"What is it?" she asked. Her Brother clutched his stomach and shook his head in pain. She placed her hand on his forehead and found it hot. "We should call a Doctor."

"I'll call for one right away." Machiavelli said and walked out the room.

She reached for a pitcher on the bedside table and then took out a cloth from the drawer.

"I'm trying." Her Brother mumbled.

Claudia dipped the cloth in water and wrung it. "I know."

"I just can't. I feel so weak whenever they try to train me."

Claudia spread the cloth over his forehead and saw him flinch at the coolness. "You needn't speak. I know."

"I'm trying….so hard…." Her Brother said blearily. "I wish I was like them."

Claudia bit her lip to keep from bursting into tears. The images from her dream returned and a shiver ran up her spine. She had to focus elsewhere or her Brother might see her weakness. She removed the cloth from his forehead and dipped it into the cool water again.

"I wish they had told me." He said.

"Shush! You must try to get some rest." Claudia said, keeping her tone in check. What she really wanted to do was go into her room and cry her heart out. The pain from all those years ago was still fresh and pricking at her mercilessly. Yes, their Father should have told them about their Assassin ancestry and the repercussions of this life. What had her Father been thinking? He should have told them all a lot sooner.

She heard a knock on the door and saw Machiavelli with a Dottore. She got up and thanked the Dottore for coming at such an hour.

"It is alright." He assured her and walked over to the bed. "Has he been taking his medicines regularly?"

Claudia started to say yes and the remembered that she hadn't seen her Brother in months. Whether or not he had given his medication priority was not something she could say with certainty. "I do not know." She replied truthfully. "He just arrived from his travels tonight."

The Dottore placed his hand on her Brother's forehead. "Hmmm."

"Is he going to be fine?" she asked.

The Dottore removed a vial from his satchel and placed the opening between her Brother's lips. He drank thirstily from it and then gagged.

"It is bitter!" he complained and the Dottore gave a short laugh.

"It will make you feel a lot better."

Claudia heaved a sigh of relief. Her Brother was going to be okay and that's all that mattered. She didn't know what she would do if anything happened to him.

The Dottore walked over to her and placed his hand on hers. "While he sleeps, there is something we must discuss."

Claudia felt her heart stop then. She had a hunch about what it could be, but she prayed that she was wrong. Machiavelli looked on grimly and then followed her outside the room.

"What is it?" she asked him and clasped her hands, expecting the worst.

The Dottore shook his head dejectedly. "I am afraid it is not good news." He said and Claudia felt her heart sink. "My medicines are clearly not working and there is nothing else I can do for him. He doesn't have much time left."


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor had left, but Claudia was still unable to move. She kept looking at her Brother, lying in his bed and couldn't believe that she might never be able to see him again. The thought was tormenting her mind; raking fresh wounds inside her until it the pain was so unbearable that she couldn't breathe.

"Claudia." Machiavelli called, but she didn't want to turn around, much less move. Her throat had tightened and she knew that when she opened her mouth, it wouldn't be words but tears that would come out.

She tried to breathe, but every time she did, the Doctor's words rang out and subdued the process. It was getting hotter and the sting of tears was far too great.

"He's going to be fine." He said softly.

The moment he said those words, Claudia could feel a burst of anger within herself. "No he isn't!" she yelled and then immediately regretted her actions when she saw Machiavelli step back and regard her in stunned silence. She turned to look at her Brother and was relieved when he still hadn't roused from his troubled sleep.

"Why don't we go downstairs and let him rest?" he suggested. Claudia nodded and bowed her head so that he wouldn't see how horrified she was for screaming at him. She had after all just met him an hour ago.

"Claudia!" Her Uncle said, coming up the stairs. "What is going on? How is he?"

Claudia fidgeted with her hands. The dull ache of repressed anger returned. It was his fault! They had wanted to leave for Spain, but her Uncle had been adamant in his decision to ask her Brother to live the life of an Assassin.

Her companion seemed to notice her inner struggle and turned to her Uncle. "I am afraid he is not doing so well. The Dottore has just informed us that he is not responding well to the medicines prescribed."

"This is indeed grave news." Uncle Mario frowned. "Maybe we should call a Dottore from Firenze or Venezia. They might have something we could try."

Claudia kept looking at the cracked tiles on the floor, wishing that everyone would stop talking. She didn't need their pity or their advice. What had Uncle Mario's advice gotten them so far?

Her Uncle turned to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry nipote, he will be up and running in no time."

Claudia glared at him and then pushed his hand away. She wanted to tell him to leave them alone and especially her Brother out of it, but he was her Uncle and she couldn't disrespect him in such an indecorous manner. She walked hurriedly towards her room and grabbed the door knob. She so badly wanted to slam the door shut to vent out her aggravations, but her Mother was in the adjoining room and the last thing she wanted was her Mother to be ruffled by this.

Claudia took a deep breath and shut the door silently. Downstairs, she could still hear the voices of her guests, although she couldn't clearly hear the words they were saying. If they were talking about her Brother again and how he was a miserable failure, she would give them a piece of her mind right now!

She paced to and fro in her room and tried to distract her mind from these thoughts. She looked at the wilting flowers in the vase near her bed and cringed. How long had it been since she had cleaned her own room? The bed needed to be made, her clothes begged to be picked and folded neatly in her cupboard and her dressing table was a clutter of mess.

Perhaps that's what she should do- clean her room while the guests below continued to insult her sick Brother. Claudia looked at the lavender pillow on her bed and couldn't decide if she wanted to punch it or weep into it.

"It's your fault!" she cried and grabbed her head. She didn't know to whom she had intended these words for, but uttering them immediately made her feel better.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she found her anger returning. Couldn't Uncle Mario just leave her alone? She strode towards the door and opened it. "Leave me…Oh!"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay." Machiavelli said.

"I…don't know if I am." She replied truthfully.

Machiavelli nodded thoughtfully. "I can understand what you are going through." He said. "Your Father and Brothers were executed, your Mother is in shock and now your only surviving Brother is gravely ill. It must be so difficult for you."

"You said you understand. But do you really?" Her voice was almost sharp but she didn't care. He was pitying her and somehow that was far worse than anything that had happened tonight.

Machiavelli gave her a reproachful look. "I am not the enemy here. Nor am I responsible for your Brother's failing health."

Claudia wanted to tell him that the minute he had become an Assassin and aided her Brother, he had become partly responsible in coercing her Brother to train harder, but she was doing it again- venting out her anger at someone who didn't deserve it. "I am sorry." She replied. "I didn't mean to behave in this way."

Machiavelli nodded silently. "Apology accepted."

Claudia glanced down at the red carpet and wondered what to say next. The silence was becoming too much and on top of this, she could still feel his eyes on her, studying her every gesture.

"Claudia, I can sympathize what you are going through." He said. "Make no mistake; I am not pitying you but trying to…"

Claudia looked up at him. "Trying to what?"

Machiavelli took a deep breath. "You seem to be hiding from something. It is just an observation that I made when I first laid my eyes on you. On the exterior, I can see you trying to remain calm and be helpful. The things you have done around Monteriggioni are proof of that. But from the inside, it is as if something is consuming you constantly."

Claudia could feel her throat tighten again. "You don't know me." She replied testily. "Isn't it wrong to make assumptions about people you have just met?"

"I will apologize for it if you tell me I am wrong."

"It is none of your business." She tried to retain a cool demeanor, but his persistence was making her weaker. Why won't he leave her alone?

"It has become my business ever since your Brother became an Assassin. He looks up to you and he needs your support." He firmly stated. "If you show him weakness, he will lose the motivation to fight."

"It's all about fights all the time!" Claudia cried. "He didn't want this and neither did I! If Mother could speak, she wouldn't have wanted this either!"

"He is an Auditore!" Machiavelli retorted. "Fighting is in his blood and his destiny. He cannot hide from it."

"It is not his Destiny!" Claudia said. "This wasn't what was supposed to happen!"

Machiavelli grabbed her by the shoulders. "Then what was supposed to happen instead, Claudia?"

To her horror, Claudia realized what was happening. Machiavelli had only been coaxing her into spilling the truth. But why? He knew what had happened so why did he want to hear it from her mouth?

"Tell me Claudia Auditore, what had happened that shouldn't have?"

A tear rolled down her face and Claudia broke away from his grasp. She could feel heaviness weighing in her chest that was slowly easing up as more tears streamed down her face. "It's all his fault." She said quietly.

"Whose fault was it?"

Claudia started to sob. "Ezio! It was all his fault. He was supposed to be my elder brother and he was supposed to protect me and take care of me!"

She saw Machiavelli's face soften and was glad that he didn't pester her with more questions. In her mind, she had returned to that fateful night again. Ezio was holding her and promising her that he would return with their family. But of course, things hadn't happened that way.

"He didn't keep his promise." She said out loud. "I will never ever forgive him for what he did."


	4. Chapter 4

"What did he do?" Machiavelli asked.

Claudia could feel her throat clench tightly. She couldn't even breathe anymore. How could she have said those words to someone she barely knew? Whatever she felt for Ezio, was her issue and not to be voiced to just anyone. But the moment she had, something inside her- a raging beast that had been assailing her for ten years now- had finally calmed down. All it needed was for her to speak of her true feelings out loud.

"Claudia?"

She kept staring at the walls, trying to make sense of everything that was going on and everything that had happened, but failing miserably. Her mind was reeling from the nightmare she had woken up to a few hours ago. Everything had been so surreal, so damaging to her soul, yet it was drawing her back in, forcing her to live those moments yet again, but this time in her reality.

"I can't." she managed to mumble. Her mouth had gone dry and she could feel a lump in her throat.

"What happened that night?" he asked softly.

"No!" she begged. "I don't want to…"

"What?"

"Go back." She finished tiredly.

Machiavelli's mouth tightened and she could see annoyance flash in his eyes. But when he spoke again, his voice was gentle even though his words were torture to her ears. "That night, after your Father and Brothers were taken away, Ezio came to you. He wasn't captured yet because he had been away on an errand."

Claudia's breathing quickened. Her heart was pulsating wildly. She looked out the window and tried to seek consolation from the rising sun. Sunrises had always made her feel comforted, but today, nothing was helping her find her escape from her miseries.

"He spoke to you and promised to come back with your family." He continued.

"If you already know everything, then why are you asking me to speak about it?" she cried. _Please stop_, she wanted to scream at him. _I can't take it anymore!_

Machiavelli didn't respond to her and went on with his account. "Only when he went to see your Father, something unexpected happened."

Something broke inside her and she was suddenly bursting with anger. "He should have just listened to Father!"

"But he didn't." Machiavelli said. He was mocking her, Claudia thought. How could he be so cruel? What joy could he possibly gain from playing such a sadistic game with her?

Claudia turned and went over to the door. She had enough of this. If he won't leave her this instant then she would!

But the second she opened the door, Machiavelli was by her side and slamming the door shut. "Is that why you're angry with him? Because he didn't do as his Father asked him to?"

"Let me go!" she sobbed and tried opening the door again, only to have Machiavelli close it once more. He placed his hand on the door and refused to budge even when she tried side-stepping him.

"Tell me Claudia, what makes you really angry? The broken promise or that fact that he made a ludicrous mistake that cost him his life?" Machiavelli persisted.

Claudia gasped and before she could stop herself, she slapped him across the face. Machiavelli looked stunned at this and Claudia put her hands on her face. "I…I am so sorry."

Machiavelli looked furious, but his voice disguised his emotion. "I did not expect this sort of reaction."

Claudia bit the inside of her lip hard. She didn't mean to, she really didn't. But Machiavelli was being so exasperating. She stood there looking at the floor. Her face felt warm and her hand still tingled after making contact with his cheek. He would leave her now, she hoped. Even though it wasn't the ideal way to end this conversation, he would leave her now and she could go back to repressing those horrible memories from her past.

"I never thought Ezio would be so careless." Machiavelli said after a while. He hadn't even moved an inch from the door and she knew that if she looked up, she would see him staring at her and searching for answers she didn't want to give. "I thought Giovanni was training him without his knowledge."

Claudia held her breath. Her lips were trembling and she feared another outburst in front of him. She clasped her hands tight. She would have to control her hands at all cost for they appeared to have a mind of their own.

"Giovanni Auditore, from what I have heard of course, was a great Assassin." Machiavelli continued. He was tormenting her with his words again. "He used many devices to train your Brothers without revealing the true motive. So it comes as a shock to me that Ezio not only disobeyed his Father's wishes but came up with a really pitiable plan."

"Does this amuse you." She asked through gritted teeth. She still dared not look at him. If she saw the gleam of amusement in his eyes, she wouldn't stop her hands this time.

"On the contrary it mystifies me considering what transpired."

Claudia looked up and glared at him. She was slightly relieved to see that he didn't look amused but rather inquisitive. "If you saw your little Brother being mistreated by the guards, would you have still left him behind?"

"Mistreated?" Machiavelli raised an eyebrow.

"Si." The anger had returned and she held onto it for dear life. It was a lot better that blubbering through her tears. "When Ezio climbed up the walls of the prison, he saw a guard come in and hit Petruccio on the shoulder with a metal rod. He did what he thought was right by planning an escape for them right then and there."

"So what happened?"

Claudia went over to a chair and sat down. Terror was creeping over her again and she fought hard to placate it. "He went away for a little while and a few hours later, returned with a saw blade. He cut through the bars as silently as possible so as not to alert the patrolling guards. Father begged him to go away and deliver the letter to Uberto instead- a letter that presumably would have absolved them from all these false labels on them. Father feared that Ezio would be captured and imprisoned too, but…"

"Ezio was adamant."

Claudia nodded. "He kept slicing the bars and eventually, he managed a small space for Petruccio to crawl through. But it was obvious that Father and Federico wouldn't be able to pass through it."

"Ezio had probably still tried." Machiavelli said and Claudia noted that his voice wasn't derogatory but filled with sympathy and even a bit of remorse.

"Petruccio was holding onto the sill, but his arms grew tired and he lost his balance and fell down." Claudia continued. "Fortunately there was a haystack below to break his fall, but his cries had attracted the guards nearby. They spotted Ezio and…" Her lips trembled then and she covered them with her mouth. To her chagrin, she was crying again. "Ezio instructed Petruccio to keep hidden as they took him away."

"Well, Ezio did what he thought best at that time." Machiavelli said, coming towards her. "It was terrible that he was captured, but he tried to protect his Brother. He was indeed…"

"I hate him!" Claudia said vehemently and immediately regretted saying that. She really didn't mean it that way. She didn't hate Ezio but by just saying that made it easier to deal with the pain she had felt all these years.

"You don't mean that." Machiavelli said.

"I do!" She said and couldn't believe the words coming out of her own mouth. But she couldn't stop either. "He promised he would save our family and come back! He didn't. He never came back!"

"I can understand..."

Claudia ignored him. The words were erupting violently from her mouth. "I was supposed to be the baby of the family even though Petruccio was the youngest. They took care of me and promised they would protect me! All of them! But they didn't and left me all alone to take care of Petruccio and Mother. I couldn't take care of them." She sobbed into her hands.

"Mother hasn't spoken in ten years and I couldn't help her with it. Petruccio is my little Brother and I was supposed to look after him. But I couldn't even do that right. And now he's dying and it's all my fault!"

"So you're not really mad at Ezio. You're angry with yourself because you think you've failed Petruccio." Machiavelli pointed out.

Claudia wept into her hands. "I have failed him. I'm not responsible enough. I'm not like Ezio or Federico. They would have taken better care of him. If they were alive they would have taken care of me!"

"Claudia ...Petruccio was always sick. Even as a child he was bed ridden."

"Ezio shouldn't have left me! He should have never gone to meet them! He would have been safe and been with me!"

Machiavelli was saying something else but it was all lost to her. His words meant nothing to her. Machiavelli didn't know what it felt like to have failed her own family. He eventually seemed to realize she wasn't paying attention to him and uttered a loud sigh. "What happened then?"

Claudia sniffed. "Then the execution happened."


	5. Chapter 5

Claudia wasn't there anymore. She was back in Firenze on that horrible morning. People she had known since childhood and who were close friends to the Auditores were running excitedly towards the center of the city where the gallows were placed.

She snuck out of the house, borrowing her Father's cloak to disguise herself. Annetta had warned her to stay put and let her escort her to her sister's, but Claudia couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Anxiety was eating into her bones and the more she hid with her Mother in Father's secret office, the more her thoughts gnawed at her.

Ezio had told her that he would be back, but so far she hadn't heard anything about him or if her Father and Brothers were safe or not. That was when she had heard the excited chatter of two women passing by and learnt that the execution was taking place.

She couldn't think or move then. She could actually feel her heart being strangled by fear. Before Annetta could utter another word, she had picked up her Father's cloak and rushed out.

No, it couldn't be. Ezio had promised he would save them all. She hurried towards the center and choked back on a sob. It was as if the whole city had come together for a festival rather than an execution. Some were cheering and she immediately spotted a family friend raising his arms in enjoyment. She didn't know his name, only that her Father had introduced her as her Uncle. They had been that close and now it was truly heartbreaking to see him standing there and chanting with the others.

"_Traditori! Kill them all!_

Claudia put her hand over her mouth and made her way through the crowd. Up ahead, she saw three figures standing on the gallows with a noose around their necks.

"Scusami." She muttered and pushed her way through. The men in the crowd jostled her back and Claudia let out a small cry as one of them groped her behind. She turned to glare at him, only to have an elderly man wink at her and make an obscene gesture.

Claudia put her hand away from her face to give him a piece of her mind, when the man's expressions suddenly changed. She had been recognized! She turned away from him and pushed harder to get in the front.

She had almost made it, when another familiar face stood up to address everyone. Another family friend- Uberto Alberti.

"This man is held responsible for the crimes of treason! In the absence of any convincing evidence to the contrary, I am bound to pronounce you guilty!"

Her Father turned to face him angrily. "There is proof! I have a letter…I could bring it and prove my innocence!"

"This man is a liar!" Uberto claimed. "The guards have searched every inch of his house and found none!"

Claudia instantly knew that Uberto was lying. If he had the house searched, then wouldn't she have been found and imprisoned too?

"I could bring the letter!" she called out, but the cheers from the crowds grew louder as the Executioner stepped up.

She pushed harder. "Father! Federico!" and that's when she noticed who was standing beside her eldest brother. "Ezio?"

Her Father and Federico had large bruises on their faces and neck, but Ezio was in a far worse state. His hair was soaked in blood, a cut on his forehead expanded to down his cheek and his mouth was bruised badly, as if he had been punched repeatedly. His clothes had large blood splatters on them and the only way Ezio was even standing was because one of the guards had propped him up with his arms.

"No!" she yelled. With whatever energy she had left, she scrambled ahead, almost lost her footing and then screamed when the guard struck Ezio to wake him up from his unconscious state. "Let him go!"

But her voice still hadn't been heard. She rushed towards Uberto and saw someone else behind him wearing dark robes. His face was visibly hidden, yet she had caught a glimpse of his eyes. He had evil grey eyes. Whoever this was, had to be responsible for what was happening to her family.

She stood exactly before where Uberto was standing and yelled. "Don't do this! I'll bring the evidence! Please!"

Uberto finally noticed her and then smiled wickedly. "Catch her, she's one of them!"

Claudia gasped as the guards immediately rushed towards her with their swords and axes drawn.

"Run piccina! Run!" Her Father cried.

Claudia felt her hands and legs go numb, but the minute her Father raised his voice, her limbs moved into action and she started to run. She barely knew where she was going as her feet carried her through the alleys and into unfamiliar streets. Behind her, she could hear the shouts of the guards and her heart beat loudly. A cheer went out and Claudia stopped suddenly. She turned behind her and heard triumphant cries coming from the gallows.

"No!" she said softly.

"Claudia?" Machiavelli asked.

Claudia really jumped in her chair. She looked all around her and saw that she wasn't in Firenze anymore. She opened her mouth to speak and found that her mouth had gone dry. Machiavelli seemed to understand and pushed a glass of water towards her.

Claudia took it and drank thirstily from it and finding her fear and sorrow ebbing away.

"You are safe now." Machiavelli said firmly.

She meant to tell him that she knew that, but one glance at her hands told her that she had been given away. She could put up a tough façade, but her manner gave away her true self so readily.

"How did you escape?" Machiavelli asked. "And where did you find Petruccio?"

Claudia clenched her hands and took a deep breath. But the emotions she had felt at that time was pulling her back in; consuming her until she could do nothing but tell him what happened next.

"I was standing there, listening to the cheers as my Father and Brothers were obviously executed." Claudia said. Her heart felt like it was in her stomach. "I just stood there when the guards came up to me. They had orders to kill and at that moment, I wanted them to do it."

She saw Machiavelli looking at her in shock. His soft brown eyes (not as dark as she had imagined) had widened and his mouth had dropped open. Yet, when he met her gaze, he immediately composed himself and reclined back in his chair.

"My only thought was that I had nowhere to go anymore. I was paralyzed and everything inside me had died. So I stood there, waiting for them to come forward and inflict pain on me just so that I could feel something rather than this void."

She shied her eyes away from Machiavelli when she said this. He must think her a coward for even thinking about this. "The guards advanced when suddenly one of them had his sword knocked out of his hand. I looked beside me and saw a large rock lying near my feet. The guards were surprised and we all turned to look at a small hysterical boy standing in an alley."

"Petruccio?" Machiavelli asked gently.

Claudia nodded. "Seeing him with tears streaking down his face and blood drying on his collar, jolted me from my trance. I sprang to life as I saw him and realized how selfish I had been. I wasn't thinking about my Mother. I never even considered what it would do to her knowing that we were all dead." Claudia felt a tear roll down and wiped at it quickly. Her lips were trembling and when she touched them with a finger she found her flesh to be cold. "Petruccio called out to me and the guards turned towards him. Using whatever energy I had left, I ran towards him, grabbed his arm and fled."

Claudia squeezed her eyes shut. "We ran for so long, I could not tell. Eventually I spotted a haystack and threw us on it." She opened her eyes as the images before her faded. She felt calm once again. "We had escaped. The guards were left behind and we could have just gotten up and gone back to our Mother. But we didn't. We lay there, panting for breath and looking up at the sky as the clouds appeared and the sky darkened. In a little while, as the first of the rain drops fell, Petruccio started to cry softly and told me what had happened."

Machiavelli nodded sadly at her. "I am sorry for what happened to your family."

Claudia looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "I was so angry!" she confessed. "Petruccio kept narrating his story and all I could think of was how Ezio shouldn't have gotten caught. How he shouldn't have gotten….killed."

"Piccina."

Claudia turned around to see her Uncle standing by the doorway. He walked over to her, pulled her up and embraced her. "I didn't know how much pain you had gone through."

Claudia started to weep softly. How could he have known? Her Uncle had never asked. The minute she had reached home that day, she had picked up her Father's cloaks, disguised her Mother and Brother and escaped from Firenze by pretending to be monks. They had managed to reach Monteriggioni when her Uncle had found them, shivering in the cold and starving, and then brought them here.

After making quick introductions, he had revealed that they were all Assassins and started to train Petruccio for the road ahead. Claudia pulled away from her Uncle. She couldn't help but be angry at him too. Petruccio was just a child, yet her Uncle had been adamant in wanting to train him as soon as possible.

"I would like to go get some rest." She said, wiping her tears. Her tone had betrayed her anger, but her Uncle did not stop her. She walked out the room and crossed her arms. It felt nice to unload all her suppressed emotions, even if it was with someone she barely knew.

She stopped then and decided she should have at least asked Machiavelli if he needed something to eat. Ever since he had arrived he had just been helping her by first calling the Dottore and then listening to her as she narrated her story.

She was about to step back into the room when she heard her Uncle speak.

"Grazie for this Niccolò." He was saying. "I cannot repay you enough for helping me with Claudia. The poor child has been going through so much and I couldn't think of any way for her to open up and confront her feelings."

"It was nothing at all." Machiavelli replied. "It was enlightening and I must say that Claudia does have the Auditore blood. Even at her age, she was heroic in her quest to save her family."

Claudia peeked through the door and saw her Uncle putting his arm around Machiavelli's shoulder. "You are indeed wise, Niccolo. Your plan to help her was brilliant. And to think you are younger to her too."

"Age had very little to do with wisdom." Machiavelli said. "It's about the experiences you have and the knowledge you have gained because of that."

"Si, si." Her Uncle said. "So do you think she is ready?"

She saw Machiavelli turn around with a grim expression on his face. He folded his hands behind his back and seemed to be struggling with his response. Claudia stepped forward quietly. What were they talking about? What was she supposed to be ready for?

"Niccolò?" Her Uncle asked impatiently.

"Given time, I am sure she will be up for it." He replied at last. "But we must give her time. As you have seen, she isn't up to taking this responsibility at the moment."

Her Uncle sighed. "Bene. Come, we have to discuss our strategy for the Battle."

Claudia closed the door quietly and hurried towards her room. Once inside, she closed the door and sat on her bed. What responsibility? What did they expect from her?


	6. Chapter 6

The next few days went by quickly. Claudia had half expected her guests to be demanding and troublesome, but to her relief they were neither. They kept to themselves and the only time she even heard from them was when they were arguing about their Assassin duties in her Uncle's office, which to her dismay was more often than not.

Nevertheless, she was finally happy that Petruccio was recovering. His skin no longer had a sickly pallor and his eyes had returned some of his light. She still missed the mischievous glint in his eyes, but anything was better than the weariness they had held for so long.

Her Brother had even been able to sit up and have his meals instead of her having to slip it past his lips with a spoon. After five days, he had begun talking in his normal voice again. As she listened to him talk about his adventures in Firenze, she plastered a smile and thought distractedly that the Dottore had been wrong. He had given up but she knew her Brother wouldn't. He was fine now and responding remarkably well to his medicines. Now, if only he stopped talking about his Assassin life and Firenze.

Those topics still made her feel uncomfortable. But the terror connected to her memories of Firenze was gone. Somehow, after her conversation with Machiavelli, she had begun to feel lighter; as if a really heavy weight had been lifted off.

"You should come to Firenze someday." Petruccio said, slurping his soup. He was in his early twenties now, but Claudia still loved that her Brother had retained some of his innocence and hadn't given it up when he became an Assassin.

"I don't know." She said, removing her handkerchief from her pocket and dabbing his mouth gently.

Petruccio frowned at her. "Why not? That is our home, is it not?"

Claudia stirred the soup absently and then tapped the spoon. "After all that has happened there…I'm not sure."

"Our enemies still live." Petruccio sighed. Claudia lifted the spoon towards his mouth, but he pushed it away. "And it is all my fault."

"Why do you say that?"

Petruccio looked down at his hands then at his weapon belt hanging from a chair. "We were so close. The guards were distracted. La Volpe and Antonio had sent their thieves to do so. All I had to do was march into the exhibition and stab Uberto. Instead…"

"Petruccio, you needn't explain. You are trying."

"I was so close!" Petruccio shook his head dismally. "But I dropped my dagger and it caught his attention. He raised his sword and I ran. That was all I could think of."

Claudia set the bowl down on the floor and took his hands in hers. His hands were still warm but not as hot as they had been days ago. "I wish you weren't an Assassin."

Petruccio pulled his hand away and looked horrified. "What?"

Claudia immediately regretted her choice of words. She shouldn't have told him her wishes in this manner, but seeing him looking so miserable with his failures had touched her heart. "I mean…I wish this wasn't your life."

"So it was alright for Uberto to betray Father?"

"No!" Claudia said. "I wish him a thousand painful deaths!"

"This is what I want!" Petruccio said. "I want that Bastardo to die by the hands of an Auditore! He wanted to erase our names forever. I cannot let him succeed."

"Calm down, Brother." Claudia said soothingly. "You mustn't get angry."

Petruccio let out a hurried breath. "I want to kill him. But I am unable to do so and it kills me inside."

_Let someone else do it, _Claudia wanted to say. She hated to see her little Brother harbor such murderous thoughts. But giving her true opinion would only further angry him. So she decided to let him hear what he wanted to. "I am sure you will. As soon as you get better, Zio Mario will train you and you will remove that wretched person's existence from this world."

Petruccio smiled at that and tapped the pillow on his lap. "Si, I will do it! I will avenge our Father's and Brothers' death!"

Claudia picked up the bowl and raised an eyebrow. Petruccio grinned at her and opened his mouth wide.

*/*/*/*/*/*

It was late at night and she was still poring over the books. Since the guests had arrived, one of them- the skinny man with a sharp nose and hood- had one day, come into her office and dropped a bag of florins before her on the table.

She had looked at it suspiciously and then at the man, who still didn't introduce himself. His eyes seemed golden in the sunlight and appeared to be preying on her. When he grinned, Claudia had felt as if she had been trapped in a net.

"What is this?" she asked, finally finding her voice.

"Money." The man answered. "We need the Blacksmiths up and running."

Claudia used two of her fingers to pry open the bag and peered. So many coins! The last time she had seen such a bag of money was when her Father had asked Federico to deposit it in the Bank. The fact that the very same bag was much lighter when it had reached the Bank was another story.

"Oh." She said. What else was she supposed to say? As her hands dipped into the bag and felt the cold metal she wondered where such a man could have obtained so much money. He wasn't a nobleman, of that she was sure. Then where…?

That was when her fingers circled around one coin and when she drew it out, she saw a few splatters of blood drying on them. Her stomach had immediately clenched and she had to swallow twice to stop her gagging.

"It will be done?" the man had asked, although he was obviously stating it. No, demanding it.

The coin dropped from her hands and back into the bag. "Si." She had replied sickeningly.

Claudia rubbed her eyes and closed the book. She didn't want to know if the money belonged to a dead person or a hapless victim- in her mind, the florins was tainted and she wanted nothing to do with it. But her Uncle did. He had thanked the man profusely and told her to do as asked.

Claudia sighed. On the bright side, the Blacksmith reopening had brought in more visitors, though still not enough to keep the city from going completely bankrupt.

She got up and started to push her chair back in when she heard a muffled voice. She looked up at the ceiling and frowned. The voices seemed to be coming from her Uncle's bedroom upstairs. She walked out of the office and towards the stairs.

"This isn't a good idea!" she heard Machiavelli yell.

After that there were more muffled voices and eventually the door burst open.

"We need to talk about this!" Her Uncle called.

Machiavelli stormed out and was heading for the stairs. "End of discussion!" he snapped.

Claudia stepped away from the stairs and stood near a potted plant. If she had taken even one step, she would have been knocked over by Machiavelli who was quickly descending the stairs.

"Niccolo!" Her Uncle said, looking down at him.

Machiavelli ignored him and headed towards the front door.

Claudia looked up at her Uncle who looked disheveled. His normally slick hair was tousled, his coat was wrinkled and his face had worry lines on them.

She considered asking him what was going on and then heard him mutter obscenities. Claudia sighed. Just another day at The Villa!

She made her way back to the stairs and up to her room when she suddenly paused. When she had needed to talk, Machiavelli had been there and now that the tables were turned, the least she could do was return the favor.

She walked out the door and shivered. It was a cold night and she was dressed in a light blue dress that provided very little warmth. She looked up at the sky and saw it littered with twinkling stars. From a distance she could smell the sweet scent of flowers.

Claudia walked down the stairs and looked all around her. Where could he have gone? The town below her was quiet and the lights on all the houses were put out. She walked around the Villa and came towards the small fountain at the back. Over there, she found Machiavelli with his back turned and his hands behind his back, staring intently at something before him. On closer inspection, she realized that although he was looking at the Mythological statues before him, his eyes had a distant look in them, as if he were in deep and intense thought.

She walked unsurely towards him, expecting him to present her with harsh words. He was furious and she could see it in the way his shoulders had stiffened.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a small voice. She clasped her hands together expecting a tirade from him or a polite reaction, asking her to leave him alone.

Machiavelli turned his head and glanced at her. She suddenly grew conscious of her appearance. Her hair net had been bothering her today, so she had removed it and tied up her hair in a messy bun and now a few tendrils had loosened from it and hung shabbily down her shoulders. Her dress wasn't the cleanest one she owned and most importantly, one of her shoe had a hole in them. They were partially hidden by the length of her dress, but still….

Machiavelli turned away from her and Claudia frowned. Perhaps she should leave him alone. Whatever it was, it was between her Uncle and him. She started to leave when he finally spoke.

"Did you hear it?"

Claudia was going to ask him what and then realized he was probably talking about the fight with her Uncle. "No." she answered.

"I am relieved to hear it." He said quietly.

"And why is that?"

Machiavelli did smile then, or maybe it was a smirk. She couldn't really tell from the angle she was standing in. "Because it was concerning you."

A cold gust of wind brushed over her and she shivered. "What about me?"

Machiavelli walked towards her and his face was serious once again. "Trust me; you do not want to know."

Claudia looked at the impassiveness in his face and wondered how a man who had been kind to her days before could look like that. It made her feel scared for some reason.

"Come now." He said. "You're getting cold."

Claudia watched him walk away. And now he was being nice to her. What kind of person was he?


	7. Chapter 7

Two days later, Claudia was in her Mother's room making her bed, when her Uncle walked in.

"Claudia, are you busy?" he asked.

She smoothed the bed sheet and glanced at her Mother. Her Mother was kneeling down with her elbows on top of the bed and her hands folded. She seemed deep in prayer, yet her eyes were open. Claudia sighed. It was yet another day where her Mother had still not uttered a word. She wished she knew how to bring her out of this shock, but so far, every effort had failed.

"Claudia?" Her Uncle asked again.

She straightened up and glanced at one of his hands playing with the hilt of his sword. He was dressed immaculately in an azure coat and matching pants. His brown boots were polished, although it did little to hide the scuff marks on the sides.

"Are you going on Battle?" she asked. The only time her Uncle ever dressed this way was when he went off to wars. Even though she couldn't imagine what thrill he must get out of it to actually dress up. It wasn't like it was a formal social occasion. It was a war, where men's only assets were their combat skills. Nevertheless, this wasn't the first time she had seen her Uncle look dapper. It seemed to be his custom or a ritual before setting off to war.

All year around he would have uncombed hair and messy stubble growing around his mouth. His clothes would usually be splattered with mud and blood and his sword stained. But come time for Battle and he would suddenly spruce up for it. Although she could only make out the hilt of the sword, she was certain that the blade had been thoroughly clean.

"Vieri has attacked Tosacana. We must leave immediately." He informed her.

Claudia winced at his words. Vieri- Ezio's arch nemesis! How her Brother had loathed him. Almost all his evenings were spent dueling with that despicable man. She had often thought of him as pig-faced and Ezio would snicker at her comments.

Claudia felt her pain cut through her. She missed laughing with Ezio. She missed bossing Federico around even though she was the younger one. And she missed her Father's pampering.

"Oh." She said distractedly. Her heart was squeezing painfully, bringing in a fresh bout of pain. Vieri had won by default. If Ezio were still alive, Vieri would have been beaten to a pulp and he would have never showed his pig-face here.

For a second, she wondered if she was actually rooting for the Assassins? It would be the first time in years that she had for once, wanted Vieri di Pazzi to lose by any means. And then another thought occurred to her.

"All of you are leaving?" she asked and wondered why Machiavelli hadn't mentioned it. She had thought they had become acquaintances at least, if not friends.

"This is what I would like to talk to you about." Her Uncle suddenly looked nervous and Claudia remembered the fight he had with Machiavelli two nights ago. Machiavelli had told her it was concerning her. Was her Uncle finally going to reveal what it was?

"Hmmm?"

Uncle Mario coughed into his hand. "Petruccio has shown desire to go."

"What? No!" she said firmly. "Petruccio has only now started to recover. You are his Uncle! You cannot force him to put his health on the line."

"I have asked him to let me." Petruccio said, coming in. Her Brother was already dressed in red robes. Around his waist he was wearing a weapon's belt and he had strapped a chest guard on himself.

"I will not allow it." Claudia said and crossed her arms.

Petruccio pouted. "It is my duty as an Assassin to serve the people and protect them from Templars."

"I said no, Brother. I am elder to you and you will not disobey me!"

Petruccio frowned at her and then took a deep breath. "Claudia." He said softly and she immediately recognized his tone. Petruccio had one of those special gifts where he could melt one's heart merely by widening his brown innocent eyes and speaking in a soft coaxing voice.

"I will not lose you too." She told him.

"You will not. I promise you." Petruccio blinked at her. "I will return home safe and sound."

"Nobody can guarantee that. In a war, anything could happen." Claudia said, biting her lip from crying out. She was losing and she knew it. Petruccio looked too innocent for her to deny him his wish.

"Please, Sister." Petruccio prodded. "I will grow restless in my room if I do not go. I shall be unable to sleep nights without dreaming about standing by my Uncle and defeating our foe." And then Petruccio said the words that completely broke her resolution. "It is for Ezio. He was Ezio's foe. I want to be the one to kill him. For Ezio!"

Claudia started to weep then. How could her Brother be so cruel to break her such? How could she say no when she had been contemplating the same thing before. "I am not happy with this."

"I will keep an eye on him." Her Uncle assured her.

"I will take my medicines on time." Petruccio chimed in.

Claudia put her arms around her Brother and hugged him fiercely. "You have to promise to let me know that you are fine. Send a message through a thief. And remember…"

She pulled away and put her hands on his face. "You are too important to me. Nothing is more important than you. Not even revenge!"

Her Brother kissed her cheek and smiled reassuringly.

*/*/*/*/*/*

Claudia was standing by the balustrade and looking out into the town. She hated to admit it, but La Volpe's blood stained coins had brought in more visitors to Monteriggioni. The Blacksmith was an eager salesman who called out to anyone passing by to check out his goods and people were queuing up. She saw a young man walk up to the Blacksmith's' and examine a range of daggers on a tray. He looked about seventeen and Claudia immediately flashbacked to the time Ezio had been presented with a dagger on his Birthday.

She still remembered how ecstatic he had been when Federico had pushed a wrapped parcel in front of him and looked on cheekily as Ezio opened it. Father had immediately scowled and reprimanded his sons for carrying daggers. But he had also been easily convinced when Ezio pointed out that he could use the extra help since Vieri had been giving the Auditores a lot of trouble lately. Father had relented but asked them to use the weapons as a form of defense and not attack.

Vieri di Pazzi. How she hated him. More often than not she had seen Ezio arrive home late at night with a bloody lip or a bruised face. He had joked that Vieri looked much worse but she had prayed that one day the fight would end. Claudia swallowed down on the bitterness that had clamored up her throat. The fight had ended with Ezio's death. Vieri was reigning only because Ezio had died. If he were still alive her Brother would have won.

She shook herself from these thoughts and looked at the sky. She loved the shades of yellows and oranges as the sun set for the day. It filled her with tranquility and made her forget her worries, although today was entirely different. A look down showed the new guests and her Uncle walk down towards the gates. La Volpe was at the Blacksmiths and purchasing bags of ammo while Petruccio picked up a sword and studied it.

Claudia looked down at her sleeve and saw that the lace of her cuff was sticking out. She pulled on it until it ripped slowly from the stitches. She hated that she couldn't stop Petruccio from going away. He had a point and he had made a promise to her, but still…

She twirled the lace around her index finger and tried not to watch her little Brother practicing with his sword. In her head, she could see flashes of the Battle and it was tearing her apart. She tried to push those dreadful thoughts away, but her conscious wouldn't let her. It was forcing her to see and feel all the bad things that could happen to her little Brother.

"I thought I might find you here."

Claudia turned to face Machiavelli and tugged at the lace in her hands harder. "You surprised me."

"I have come to say goodbye." Machiavelli said.

Claudia looked down at her hands and saw that she had pulled out all the lace from her cuff. She put her hand over it so that Machiavelli couldn't see it. "Buona Fortuna." She said.

Machiavelli nodded. "You seem perturbed by something. Or is it just another haphazard assumption?"

Claudia managed a small smile recalling the manner with which she had accused him of interfering in her private life. "My Brother is going off to Battle. My mind is in a state of unrest."

"I can understand your concern for him." Machiavelli replied. "He is indeed fortunate to have a sister like you to take care of him."

Claudia started to absently roll the lace around her finger again. "If you do not mind, may I ask you something?"

"By all means."

Claudia took a deep breath. She may never see him again and she had to know what was going on. "That night, you and Uncle Mario had been arguing about something. You said it was concerning me."

Machiavelli's face hardened and he looked away as if annoyed. "And I did tell you that you didn't need to know."

"Perhaps I do." Claudia said softly. "If it concerns me, I do need to know."

Machiavelli hesitated and put his hands behind his back. He stood beside her and gazed down at her Brother. "It is not my place to tell you." He said. "Do not worry yourself with it. It will not come to that, I promise you."

"I have no idea what to make of this." Claudia said. "You have completely befuddled me."

Machiavelli grinned. "As I have mentioned beforehand, I have no right to meddle in your family affairs."

"Yet you have, on my Uncle's insistence." Claudia pointed out.

Machiavelli looked shocked, but composed himself quickly. "You were eavesdropping."

"I promise you I wasn't." Claudia said. "I just happened to walk in on both of you discussing my welfare."

"Your Uncle was concerned and I was unable to say no."

"Do you have reason to believe his concern was misplaced? Did he want me to be free of my demons so that I could be of some use to him?"

"So curious!" Machiavelli laughed. "It is not a conspiracy against you. You needn't be so riled up by it."

"And more cryptic replies." Claudia frowned. She folded her arms and turned back to the people below them. Why couldn't he just tell her already? He had pushed her once to tell her about her nightmares, so why not tell her what was going on and what secret her Uncle was keeping? She could feel his eyes on her and she turned to see him staring at her.

His expressions were soft and filled with concern. It was a soft look, yet it made her feel uneasy somehow. She put her hand on her hair consciously and found the silence between them too unnerving. But what could she say?

"I have to leave." He said quietly. "Arrivederci, Claudia." He took her hand in his and pressed his lips softly on it.

As he turned to go, Claudia couldn't help but smile at his gesture. "A presto." She said. Machiavelli paused and then faced her.

"I will take good care of your Brother. I promise you." He said.

Claudia smiled and felt tears brim her eyes. "Grazie." She said.

She stood there watching as Machiavelli joined the small group gathered near the gate. Petruccio turned around and waved at her and she returned the gesture. She stood there watching as the small group of Assassins, walked out the gate and got on their horses.

The feeling had returned; the dark dreadful feeling had returned. Her heart screamed at her for letting Petruccio go. He and their Mother was all the family she had left. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to get rid of those thoughts.

Petruccio had promised her he would stay safe. Her Uncle had promised to take care of her little Brother and most importantly, Machiavelli had given his word.

No, nothing would happen to Petruccio. She wouldn't allow herself to think something could. She walked back into her office and sat down on her chair. The numbers on her ledger blurred before her and she closed it and clasped her trembling hands.

"Nothing is going to happen to him." She tried assuring herself. "Nothing terrible will befall him." But as minutes passed by, Claudia knew she had failed in distracting herself. The ominous feelings remained within her, promising a catastrophe.


	8. Chapter 8

The skies had turned grey once more and the heavy clouds promised more rain. It was the second day in a row that it had been overcast and rainy.

In her room, Claudia started to feel more like a prisoner than a resident. The brown floral wallpaper did nothing to cheer her up and neither did the bouquet of roses in the vase right next to her white bed. It was still early and she wasn't expected to be downstairs for another hour or so, but sleep rarely came to her anymore.

It had been two weeks, and she hadn't heard anything from Petruccio. Her Brother had promised to let her know that he was well and safe, but so far all she had received was a scribble from her Uncle notifying her that they had reached Toscana and would let her know how everything was going. That had been two weeks ago. Did battles really take that much time?

Claudia closed her window as the first of the raindrops fell. Judging by the grey skies, she expected there to be a storm. She went downstairs to her office and opened up her ledger. There was fortunately work to do to keep her mind off her Brother's safety. He had to be fine, she couldn't imagine anything otherwise.

She heard footsteps coming towards the office and clutched the corner of the table. When she saw it was only the Architetto, she scolded herself. Had she really expected her Brother to come bursting in through the door?

Claudia sat down dejectedly and dipped her quill into the inkpot.

"Terrible weather out there!" The Architetto stated. He removed his soggy hat and wrung it. Claudia frowned at the small puddle he had made and went back to her books.

The Architetto had until today never spoken a word to her apart from the occasional 'pass me the quill' or 'has any money come in yet?', so even though she meant to make conversation with him in the past, today, she just didn't feel like it. Her mind refused to let her ease and continued to nag her about her concerns regarding her Brother.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted the Architetto remove something from his pocket and looked up. Letters!

"Are there any from Petruccio?" she inquired. Her heart beat restlessly against her chest.

The Architetto shuffled through the envelopes and shook his head. "No. But there is a letter from your Uncle."

Claudia bit down on her lip. "Oh. What does it say?"

The Architetto slit open the envelope and removed the paper. "It is dated a week ago."

"What does it say?" she asked again, wishing her heart wouldn't beat so fast with anticipation.

The Architetto scanned the contents and Claudia studied his expression. Not bad news. If it were, the expressions on his face would not belie his tone. "Your Uncle has shown desire to invest in the renovation of a guild."

"The Mercenaries are already here." Claudia answered. "Are they all okay?"

"Si. He writes that the Battle is ongoing, but they do have a chance to stand victorious."

"Is my Brother okay?"

The Architetto nodded and Claudia breathed easily. The voice in her head told her the letter was a week old, but she pushed it away. Petruccio was okay. She wouldn't allow herself to think otherwise.

"Your Uncle has asked me to consult you regarding the renovations."

"Bene." Claudia said and walked over to him to peer at his model of Monteriggioni. She looked at the ramparts around the city and pointed at one of the towers that had a green mark on it. "This is for the Mercenari, si?"

The Architetto put away the letter and nodded thoughtfully. "Your Uncle is unable to decide between renovating for the Thieves or for the Courtesans."

_How about neither?_ Claudia thought to herself. She had been taking care of this place like her home for ten years now and she considered it to be her sanctuary. If her heritage had been different, if she hadn't belonged to a family of Assassins, she would have never had her town tarnished by the presence of thieves and whores.

"What do you think?" The Architetto asked.

Claudia sighed. But the reality was that this was her Uncle's home and he had entrusted her with the responsibility of making the right decision on his behalf. She imagined building the Thieves guild here. Every day, the thieves would come out and pickpocket the few visitors to this city. And then at night, they would break into the residents' homes and steal what little they had. In a short time, her town would be overrun with thieves and criminals.

She then imagined having Courtesans being brought in instead. She pictured them standing outside the brothel in skimpy clothes and prancing around, calling around for men to join them in their chambers. Claudia shivered at the thought. Kids playing in the streets would be subjected to such indecency on a daily basis.  
"Signorina?" The Architetto must have noticed her hesitation, for he spoke in a controlled tone. "The Thieves and Courtesans are invaluable to the Assassins. Their assistance is what helps them garner information about corruption. Their spies lead them to their targets and eliminate them."

"Even the Courtesans?"

"Especially them!" The Architetto said. "Where do you think they gather information about nobles?"

Claudia winced at that. She didn't want to picture those women dangling favors and seducing men just so that they would give away their secrets in their heightened state of arousal.

"I don't…"

"Your Uncle insists you make the decision." The Architetto said. "He trusts you to make the right one."

In all these years, her Uncle had never asked her of anything. So how could she deny him this?

"Capisco." Claudia pondered on the two choices in front of her. Rather than having thieves running all over town and stealing from the citizens, wouldn't she rather have the Courtesans standing in the corner of the city, offering their services? She would have to ask them to be more discreet and work at nights only though.

"The Courtesans." She said.

"Brothel it is." The Architetto started to write notes and Claudia frowned.

_Brothel? There was a Brothel going to be built in the city? _She thought they would occupy only one of the secluded towers at the far end of the city.

Claudia went over to her desk and looked out the window and saw that it was pouring outside. The wind was getting stronger and the trees were swaying swiftly. She heard kids playing outside in the rain and envied their uninhibited joy. To be young again and enjoy the pleasures of a child was now something she didn't even have the luxury to think about.

She was walking back to her desk when she suddenly heard the cries of the stablemen outside. Claudia instantly knew that they had returned. She pushed past the Architetto and ran out of the Villa. Her heart beating fast, she descended the stairs two steps at a time. Outside the gates, she could hear the men talking fast although at this distance the voices were still muffled.

She ran through the gates and paused for breath. In a distance, she could spot four horses coming towards her. The rain that fell on her skin felt cold and sharp, but she didn't care about being drenched. Her Brother had finally arrived and she could finally put all her fears to rest.

"They have arrived." The stableman said.

"I know." Claudia said gasping for breath. She could make out her Uncle Mario coming first, followed by Machiavelli and then…

Where was Petruccio? Her heart skipped a beat as this thought crossed her mind. The other two horses and the men on them were still far away, but she could make out that neither of them looked like her Brother. Petruccio was too thin, had long hair and was shorter than the men that were arriving.

Uncle Mario stopped first and dismounted from his horse. She picked up her skirts and ran to him. "Where is Petruccio?" she demanded to know.

Uncle Mario looked at her grimly and she turned to Machiavelli who had stopped but was still on his horse.

Claudia pushed back her tears. Something felt wrong and the silence from the men before her was only confirming her fears. "Where is Petruccio?" her voice was almost a whine.

Machiavelli swung his legs around and Claudia caught sight of something behind him. With a heavy heart, she rushed over to him as he got off. Machiavelli reached for her, but she brushed him away and went towards his horse.

There slung on the back of the horse was a man lying on his stomach with his hands dangling. His hair was sandy, his clothes torn and his hands bloody. Claudia started to put her hand on him and stepped back.

"No." she sobbed. "Oh God no!"


	9. Chapter 9

"Claudia! Get a hold of yourself!"

But she was barely listening anymore. It took her a while to realize that she had been screaming, but she was still unable to stop. Two men quickly rushed towards them and pulled off Petruccio's dead body off the horse.

"No!" Claudia screamed again as the men started to walk away. "Put him down! He's my Brother! Don't touch him!"

"Piccina." Uncle Mario said soothingly, but she ignored him. The men looked at her uncertainly but eventually did as she asked.

Claudia crumpled to the ground and took Petruccio's bluish hand in hers. "No!" she sobbed. Her hands travelled over his face and pushed away his hair from his forehead. There were streaks of dirt all over his cold bluish skin, but there was also deep red blood drying on his skin.

"Please, no!" she kept on saying. She shook him gently, expecting him to wake up. "Petruccio, don't leave me!" Her hands clutched at his blood-stained clothes and pulled him towards her and in her arms.

"Claudia, he's gone. He's been dead for…" Uncle Mario was saying, but his words were inaudible. All she could hear was a dull buzzing sound and a desperate prayer in her head.

"Please, please God let him be alive, let him open his brown eyes, let him breathe, please…."

Her Uncle pulled her up roughly and put both his hands firmly on her shoulders. "Claudia! Petruccio is dead! Vieri slit his throat two days ago!"

Claudia looked at her Uncle blankly, his words cutting through and wounding her. She opened her mouth, but couldn't speak. Her Uncle was telling her how her little Brother had fought valiantly and had Vieri cornered. But as usual, Vieri had cheated and thrown his brutes at him.

"Vieri had him pinned and he was the one who removed his dagger to slit his throat." Uncle Mario finished sadly.

Claudia looked down at her Brother's corpse and felt the world spinning around her. She was distantly aware that the other two men on horsebacks had dismounted too and were standing and looking at her. The world was blurring before her but it suddenly grew clear when Machiavelli walked into her view.

"Claudia, I'm deeply sorry…"

Claudia raised her hand and slapped him across the face. "You said you would take care of him!" she screamed. "You promised!"

Machiavelli started to speak but to Claudia couldn't allow herself to listen to anymore of his lies. She raised her arm again but her Uncle caught it.

"Piccina…Machiavelli is not at fault here. He…"

"Don't talk to me!" Claudia said bitingly. "It's your fault. After Father died, I looked upon you to help protect us. You didn't! You threw my little Brother under your murderous plans to kill the Templars. You killed my Brother!"

"You have to be strong for your Mother." Uncle Mario said.

Claudia glared at him. She couldn't breathe anymore. All this was too much. She didn't know whether to be angry or cry her heart out.

She clenched her hands into fists and stomped towards him. "I will take care of my Mother." She said through gritted teeth. "I am leaving this very instant and taking my Mother…" she choked on a sob as she looked at her Brother on the ground. "and my Brother."

"Claudia, do not be so hasty. You must think this through…"

"Basta!" she cried out. She called out for the two stablemen and asked them to help bring Petruccio inside.

"Let me help." Uncle Mario pleaded.

Claudia ignored him and walked in the gates. This was the last time she would ever enter Monteriggioni, she promised herself. She let a moan escape her throat and sniffed it back. Up ahead, she would have to take the stairs and walk into the Villa to tell her Mother that her only surviving son was dead too.

She stopped the two men who were carrying Petruccio's body and asked them to arrange for a cart. "I shall be right back with my Mother. If you see Annetta, ask her to pack my clothes and things."

She went towards the Villa with her heart so heavy that it was becoming nearly impossible to even walk properly. She held onto the railings of the stairs to catch her breath and balance, but neither would come easy. Little by little, she eventually made it through the door and up the stairs to her Mother's room.

She stood near the doorway and watched her Mother with her back turned against her and kneeling by the bed, praying.

"Mother." She said in a whimper and then wiped at her tears. "Mother?"

Her Mother didn't respond and continued to pray. Claudia stepped in and went towards her. "I have some grave news." Her eyes filled with tears again and her throat clenched. She fell to her knees beside her Mother. "Petruccio…." She was unable to continue. She didn't want to do this, but she couldn't stop herself either.

"Petruccio is dead, Mother." She managed to say. "Vieri di Pazzi killed him!"

Her Mother opened her eyes and laid down her praying hands. She stared at the wall, but Claudia could still not detect any change in her expressions. She still looked stunned and empty as she had been ten years ago.

"Uncle Mario and Machiavelli promised me they wouldn't let anything happen to him. They lied." Her Mother still hadn't moved. "Mother?" Claudia started to weep then. She needed her Mother to say something, to tell her that she understood and then to take her in her arms so she could cry.

"Mother, Petruccio is dead!" Claudia said desperately. She couldn't take this stony silence any more. "Please, Mother. Please say something. We're all alone now. It's just you and me. Petruccio is dead!"

Her Mother looked on blankly and Claudia broke out into sobs. She hugged her Mother from behind and let herself breakdown.

For the next few minutes, all Claudia was aware of was that she was crying so hard that it hurt her lungs. Her Mother still hadn't moved and she really needed her to place a gentle hand on her. When she still hadn't, Claudia got up and went over to her Mother's wardrobe. She opened it and started to take out her clothes.

"We're leaving this very instant." She told her. "I cannot live with him anymore."

Her Mother maintained silence, but Claudia was glad of it. The last thing she wanted was someone to tell her to stay. She placed her Mother's things into a box and went over to her bedside table and opened the drawers.

"What is this?" she asked. The drawer was filled with hundreds of feathers- eagle feathers. "Feathers? Why have you kept this?"

Her Mother kept staring at the wall. Claudia felt her heart break a little more and bit her lip. "Never mind. We don't need these." She started to close the drawer when her Mother grabbed her wrist.

She looked down at her Mother to see her almost glaring at her. "Why do you need these?" She asked her Mother. Her Mother's grip only tightened. Claudia nodded and picked up her box of trinkets. "Bene. We will keep these feathers."

Claudia stuffed all the feathers into the trinket box and held it under her arm. "We have to leave now, Mother. You have to come with me."

Her Mother didn't move and Claudia put her hand on her Mother's shoulder. "Mother, I am leaving. If you love me, you have to come with me or I'll never speak to you again!" she was crying again but this time she didn't bother to wipe her tears and pretend to be strong for her Mother.

Her Mother slowly got up and Claudia took her hand in hers.

Annetta came into the room and clasped her hands. "Are you really leaving?" she asked.

"Have you packed my things?"

"Si, but please don't leave." Annetta begged.

Claudia led her Mother out of the room and made her way to the stairs.

"Claudia, please change your mind." Her Uncle said, coming in through the front door.

Claudia ignored him and turned to Annetta. "Ask the men outside to put our things in the wagon."

"Ignore me all you want, but you are my family." Uncle Mario said.

Claudia stopped beside him and glared. "A family is supposed to understand and protect its members. Not send them off on perils for your own purposes."

"We are Assassins. All of us. We cannot run away from our responsibilities."

Claudia looked away from her Uncle for fear that she would lash out at him. "I'm not running away Uncle. I'm protecting my family- my Mother- from you. I will not let my Mother be a pawn in your games."

"Claudia, you have misunderstood what it means to be an Assassin."

"I would rather be this way then lose her too." Claudia said and led her Mother out the doors.


	10. Chapter 10

Firenze. This was her home- the place where she was born, brought up and where she was eventually forced to leave. The whole city had once turned their backs on her. Friends of her Father had betrayed them and rendered the Auditores helpless.

This was the city that had taken too much from her and offered only measly scraps in return.

It had been six months since she had left Monteriggioni to come here with her Mother. There was nowhere else she could think of going. Firenze was cold and heartless but it was her home.

They had arrived in the dark of the night, the perfect camouflage to sneak into the city- except she had only come to know during the day that she hadn't needed to be so discreet. The city and its people had forgotten the Auditores. It had hurt terribly but she nevertheless accepted this and moved on…right back inside her home.

She had expected the house to have been torn apart or for some uncaring person to have taken up residence in it. But instead, she found it completely abandoned. Her Mother had uttered a throaty moan when she stepped inside, but that was the only sound she made here on after.

The house was a mess. The plants and flowers her Mother had given so much care to had wilted and stomped upon by the looks of the broken stems. The curtains had been torn down. The wall had been painted on with obscenities by the local thugs, but what drew her attention to it were the words _'Traditore'_ painted in black paint.

Claudia had taken a deep breath and taken her Mother towards Father's office and then locked the door. She still didn't know the situation here. The real traitors were still probably looking for them and this house was probably being used as bait to lure them towards it.

These thoughts continued to reel in her mind and the rest of the night was spent sleepless. It was in the morning when she had taken a step outside and walked to the market to purchase food with what little money she had, that she found that not one citizen had recognized her.

This had made her cheerful for only a second before she spotted Duccio- the man she had once been betrothed to. She had believed that he would have been engaged to someone else now and possibly married, but instead she found him hanging around with his lackeys discussing his conquests and her name had crept up.

Claudia had thrown him a disparaging glance and wanted so badly to go over and give him a piece of her mind, except the last thing she wanted to do was create a scene and draw attention to herself. The surviving Auditores had arrived in Firenze and this information wasn't about to bode well with their ill-wishers. She was the only one left protecting her family-her Mother.

For six months, she had kept to herself. She followed the same routine every day. As soon as the sun rose, she was out of bed and after washing her face with cold water, she would pick up a broom and start cleaning the house. After that she would take a bath and start preparing breakfast while her Mother would wake up and come downstairs. She was always greeted with silence and Claudia tried fruitlessly to make small talk with her.

Her Mother would sit in stony silence and chew slowly on a piece of bread that she occasionally dipped in her hot tea. She would finish up cleaning, go to the market, prepare lunch and spend the afternoon mending clothes while trying to talk to her Mother again. After that she would prepare dinner and then go to sleep.

Today would be the same.

"It's getting cold outside." Claudia said. Her Mother looked down at the table and said nothing. "I'm going to the Mercato today. Do you want me to get you something?"

Still nothing. Claudia swallowed and stared at her own plate, with her eyes brimming with tears. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "I found a bag of florins in Father's desk drawer. That should be enough for another few months. After that we'll have to find alternate ways to get money."

Her Mother responded in silence. Claudia pushed her plate and got up. "I should go then." She looked at the flowers growing in the small pots and smiled. "You really have a green thumb. The flowers are growing really well." She went over to her Mother's side, bent her head and kissed her cheek. "I'm so pleased you've taken up gardening again."

Claudia took her purse from the table and clasped it tight in her hands. "A presto, Mother."

She walked out of the house and closed the gates. It was a beautiful winter morning. The skies showed patches of blue and the air was crisp and cold. People were already up and about and she spotted a group of women chatting noisily as they made their way to the markets.

Claudia started to follow them and then paused. She turned left and walked over to the vendor selling flowers.

The vendor, a stout mustached man gave her a friendly grin and handed her a bunch of chrysanthemums. "The usual, Signorina?"

Claudia paid him and bowed her head in greeting. She held the flowers close to her chest and came upon the Arno River. She plucked three flowers and let them fall into the water. This was where her Father and Brothers were supposedly laid to rest. She hated that they weren't given a proper funeral, but there was no use dwelling on what she should have done and what she shouldn't have. The past was done and she had to move forward.

She uttered a small prayer and walked towards the gates that led out of Firenze. This was the gate she had come into Firenze. It had been dark and breezy. She had felt the warm embrace of the city then, welcoming her back home. But she had pushed those feelings away, made her Mother comfortable in a nearby bench and had started to dig in an open ground.

There were no other sounds other than metal against the earth. It was quite late and Claudia had used this as an advantage to dig a grave for her Brother. When she was done hours later and the sky was starting to lighten, she had asked the carriage driver to help her carry her Brother's body-which she had covered with a white sheet- and lay it in the freshly dug grave. The carriage driver had agreed and even helped her shovel earth over him. When it was done, Claudia had paid the carriage driver and then fallen down from fatigue and wept.

Claudia looked at the small grave and knelt down. Her hands touched the soft fine mud and she laid her flowers over them. She felt oddly calm whenever she came here. There were no thoughts; only a heavy numbness. Occasionally there were flashes of her Uncle promising he would take care of his nephew and even those of Machiavelli who had done the same. Both men had lied. They had broken their promises and it was because of that, her Brother was now lying under the earth.

Today was different though. She was only aware of the wind sweeping over her causing her to shiver and the chirp of birds. In a distance she could hear people talking, but that was about it. No thoughts of her Uncle or Machiavelli disturbed her.

She got up, dusted her skirt and made her way to the Mercato. Lost in her thoughts, she made a mental note of things she needed to buy. Her Mother's clothes needed to be patched up, so she desperately needed a spool of thread-particularly white-and needles. She had broken her last needle yesterday while stitching up a rug. The rug was made of thick material and she should have known better than to try to stitch it, but she wanted the house to look beautiful for her Mother and at this moment they couldn't afford a new one.

She would have to do something about money. Perhaps offer tailor services? Claudia frowned at the thought. She wasn't very good at it. Maybe she should sell something she cooked. Another sigh escaped from her. She wasn't very good at cooking either and last night's dinner of soggy bread and uncooked potatoes were evidence of that.

Claudia passed by a bank and paused. For ten years she had looked after the account books at Monteriggioni. Maybe she could….

A familiar voice broke into her thoughts and she froze. It was the same man's voice she had heard since her childhood.

"_Piccina, come here." Her Father had once called to her when she was ten._

_She had come running instantly and looked up at a man standing by the front door. He was tall, had a large round face and wore red robes. His eyes were small and dark, his nose pudgy and his mouth thin. He was smiling at her, but even then she hadn't wanted to respond to him._

"_He's my dear friend Uberto Alberti." Her Father told her. "But you shall call him Uncle."_

Claudia turned around slowly to see Uberto walking inside the Mercato with an elderly man. Claudia started to turn the other way and run back home, when she stopped. He was but ten feet away from her and she was absolutely certain she had heard him talk about the Auditores.

Claudia immediately jogged inside the Mercato and saw Uberto making his way to the Tailor's. She followed him, keeping her steps as soft as possible.

"The people have noticed activity at the Auditore Villa." The elderly gentleman was saying.

"Probably beggars." Uberto said distractedly as the Tailor laid out a rich blue cloth before him. Uberto felt the cloth between his fat fingers and nodded appreciatively.

"My spies tell me they are women."

"Hmmm…maybe it's a new Brothel. Firenze could use more of them." Uberto chuckled.

The elderly man rolled his eyes. Claudia crept behind a large basket or fruit under the pretense of buying them.

"Shouldn't you take a look into this matter?"

Uberto scoffed. "The Auditores are gone! They're dead! Each and every one of them. It's taken Firenze a long time to forget about them and the last thing we need is to dig up that old mess. We have more important things in mind. The Spaniard has called upon us."

The elderly man scratched his grey beard. "Still, the Auditore women…"

"Basta!" Uberto said irritably. "The Auditore name has been scratched out of our books and minds. The Auditores are no more. Their last surviving son has been killed by Vieri and the women are probably working in a Brothel somewhere or have died of shame. Come. We have to leave."

Claudia moved out of hiding spot and clenched her hands into fists. She was surprised by the ager running swiftly through her veins, causing her vision to blur. Uberto had to die! He was the one who had betrayed her Father. He had to pay…with his life.

Claudia stormed towards the Blacksmith's and put down her money pouch. "I need a dagger." She told him. "Whatever the cost, I need one!"


	11. Chapter 11

So far she hadn't been detected and that was a good thing. Uberto was obviously a very confident man to think he could walk the streets freely without running the risk of being assassinated.

This was about to change today, Claudia promised herself. She was glad she had worn a cloak over her dress this morning as it did well to conceal the newly bought dagger in her hands. The metal felt cold and smooth in her hand. The hilt had a design of an eagle on it and when the Blacksmith had put it on the counter she had hesitated momentarily- not because she was having second thoughts of ending that Traitor's life, but because of the designed hilt. She was sure it would be expensive and out of her budget, but to her surprise the Blacksmith had taken only half of her coin pouch.

There was probably a sale going on, she thought distractedly as she watched Uberto standing by a board that advertised the opening of an Art Exhibition. Claudia crept closer. She had been a teenager when Uberto had laid his eyes on her last, so there was very little chance he would recognize her now, but she still couldn't take that risk.

She could feel the blood boiling inside her and as much as she tried to deter herself from this mission, she couldn't. Something inside of her had snapped and couldn't be mended by cowardly thoughts. Perhaps it had something to do with laying flowers on her family's grave that had brought on this decision or maybe the way Uberto had mentioned her family's name as if they and her Father's friendship had never meant anything to him.

The words _'Traditore' _flashed in her mind again. The black paint had dried on their walls for ten years and had taken four hours to scrub it off completely. But in her mind, it had been forever etched.

_I used to call him Uncle, _she thought miserably. Her pulse raced and she watched Uberto head towards the gate of the Exhibition.

Claudia took a deep breath. There were no more thoughts in her mind; no voice telling her to back away from this. Only numbness remained, pushing her to carry on with her motives. She put her head up and walked as gracefully towards the gate.

The guards studied her for a moment, before parting and letting her pass. Claudia held her breath and tightened her grasp on the hilt of her dagger. She couldn't believe she was just let in! This lapse in security was something she could use to her advantage.

It was only when she was inside that another thought struck her. She had no plan! What did she intend to do? How would she escape? What if she was killed on the spot?

Claudia shivered when the cold wind brushed against her and she turned away. She stood next to a group of three women who were perusing a painting.

"Ah, Bellissimo!" Uberto was saying. "Da Vinci has done it again!"

"Hmmm…" The elderly man said distractedly.

"I must have him paint for me." Uberto said.

"Uberto, we still have the matter of the Pazzi's to discuss." The other man reminded him.

"There is nothing to discuss."

"Aren't you afraid that so much power will go to their heads? The man said.

"Jacopo! It's unkindly to talk of your own family like that." Uberto said, walking over to the next painting.

Jacopo made a face, but followed him quietly. "Francesco is too ambitious. He killed off the Medici family and took over the reins of Firenze. That should have been enough, but he insists on taking over Toscana."

"Let him." Uberto said. "The more lands he conquers that fatter our purses will be."

"Don't you want even a little bit of power?" Jacopo asked. "After so many years, we have still not ascended to a new title."

"It will come." Uberto said and called over the organizer to discuss the price of a painting.

"But the Pazzi's are asking for trouble. My great nephew Vieri murdered Petruccio Auditore without another thought. And now that ubriacone Mario Auditore is on our backs."

"He will meet his demise soon, just like the rest of the Auditores. They will be all gone and forgotten by everyone." Uberto handed over a money pouch and turned to him. "Now let us not upset ourselves with such trivial matters. Come; let us entertain our minds with these beautiful pieces of art."

"But…"

"Come, Jacopo. Leave the worrying to the Pazzi's and the Spaniard."

Upon hearing her Brother's name, Claudia had pushed away all her hesitations and stepped forward. With her dagger still concealed under her cloak and poised, she strode towards him. Uberto must have sensed her movement, for he turned around to grin at her.

"And how may I help you, bella donna?"

Claudia let her cloak fall from her shoulders and raised her hand. She stabbed Uberto in the chest and saw his eyes getting wide with shock. Jacopo immediately stepped away in horror.

"Remember me, Bastardo?" Claudia said through clenched teeth. She removed the dagger from his chest and stabbed him again.

"W-who are y-you?" Uberto moaned.

Claudia pulled out the dagger and stabbed him again and again. Her vision was being clouded by thick red clouds. All she could see were the faces of her family. Uberto had been the one to betray them all!

She pushed him on the ground and spat on him. "It's me! Claudia Auditore! I want everyone to know that the Auditore are not dead! I'm still here! Me! Claudia! Claudia Auditore!"

The crowd around her started to panic. Women started to scream and Jacopo finally recovered from his shock. He kept staring at Uberto lying on the ground with a pool of blood spreading beneath him. "Guards!" he cried out.

Claudia knelt beside Uberto and plunged the dagger into his heart. "Si meritano di andare all'inferno, Uncle!" She got up and spat on him again. From the corner of her eye she spotted the guards racing towards her. Claudia stared at them, suddenly realizing she still hadn't planned her exit.

Someone behind her gave her a nudge and whispered. "There's a back exit. Make a run for it!"

Claudia turned around to see a young man in a beige cap and a scarf wrapped around his neck. He wore a green shirt and short pants. She had seen men like him before- in Monteriggioni. "You're a thief?"

"Run!" he said and nudged her towards the exit. Claudia didn't need to be told again. She picked up her skirts and ran as fast as she could. She looked over her shoulder to see the thief knocking over one of the guards. The thief then took out his dagger and in the next instant, another thief joined him.

Claudia kept on running until her lungs burned. She stopped only when she saw the door to her house. She turned around and saw no one behind her. She burst through the door and slammed it shut behind her.

She leaned against the door and heaved for breath. She had done it! She had killed that traitor! Claudia rested her head on the door and closed her eyes. Her mind was at peace and she felt lighter.

Suddenly she heard the sound of glass shattering on the floor. She opened her eyes to see her Mother with her hands on her mouth and moaning.

"Mother!" Claudia said and came towards her.

Her Mother started to weep and shook her head. She kept looking down and when Claudia followed her gaze she saw why her Mother seemed so upset. There were large stains of blood on her dress- right from the bodice to the hem of her skirt.

Claudia muffled her own scream and put her hand on her Mother's shoulder. "It's not mine!"

Her Mother started to sob loudly. "It's not mine! It's not mine!" Claudia kept saying. She stared at her hands and saw them covered with blood too. "I'm fine Madre."

Her Mother gathered her in her arms and wailed. "I cannot take it if anything happens to you!"

Claudia gasped. Her Mother had spoken! Had she heard right? Had her Mother finally said something?

"Don't leave me!" Her Mother was crying. "I will not be able to bear it if you are taken away from me!"

Claudia pulled away from her embrace and found that she was crying too. She blinked away her tears and managed a smile. "I won't! I promise!" She hugged her Mother tight.

They stood embracing each other for a few minutes when her Mother pulled back. "Where did all this blood come from?"

Claudia started to wipe her face when she saw blood splatters on the sleeve of her dress. "I…I killed him."

"Killed whom, piccina?" Her Mother asked. She could see the fear etched on her face and Claudia realized of what the repercussions of her actions could be. They would come after her now. Jacopo would tell his superiors and come after her and her Mother.

"Whose blood is it?" Her Mother asked.

"Uberto Alberti's." she said. "I don't know what came over me. I saw him in the Mercato and he was talking about us and I remembered the betrayal and I couldn't stop myself." The words were pouring out of her mouth and she couldn't stop herself. "I bought a dagger, followed him to an Art Exhibition and plunged it into his heart. I kept stabbing him all the while remembering Father and Federico and Ezio and Petruccio…."

Her Mother took her firmly by the shoulders. "Claudia! Enough!"

"I killed him!" Claudia told her dumbly. "And now they'll come for us!"

"Possibly!" a man's voice said from behind them.

Claudia turned to see her Uncle enter the door followed by the cloaked man who had given her the blood-stained money bag in Monteriggioni.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Admiring your handiwork." The cloaked man said.

"Mario, what are you doing here?" Her Mother asked.

Uncle Mario walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. "You have finally spoken, Maria."

"You haven't answered my question." Claudia said stubbornly.

"I was coming here to ask for forgiveness nipote." He replied.

"Petruccio is dead because you couldn't take care of him!"

"Correction." The cloaked man interrupted. "He died by Vieri di Pazzi's blade."

Claudia scowled at him and crossed her arms. Uncle Mario put his hand over her head. "I can only hope you will forgive me one day. But I will not press you."

"Si, we have more important things to discuss now." The cloaked man said. "Like a certain murdered gentleman."

"He deserved to die!" Claudia said.

"He did." Her Uncle agreed.

"A good job too. Although it lacked a bit of…finesse." The cloaked man said.

"With a little bit of training…" Uncle Mario said and then stopped when he saw her glare. He raised his hand. "Alright. But at least allow me to help you."

"I don't need any help!"

"Not even with the horde of guards heading towards you?" The cloaked man said.

Claudia gasped and looked at her Mother. "I will not allow them to hurt my Mother."

"Then let me help." Uncle Mario said.

Claudia bit her lip and then sighed. "Bene. But just this once!"


	12. Chapter 12

"Where are we going?" she asked. Uncle Mario remained silent and led her towards the city gates. "I thought you were going to help me with the guards."

"I am." Uncle Mario replied. His eyes were fixated on the group of guards standing by the Bank.

"How is this helping me…us?" She threw a hasty glance at her Mother who didn't seem as wary of this as she was. It was almost as if her Mother had been used to this kind of activity-of fleeing the city- numerous times before.

"You are in no position to take down guards. Your little…er…" the cloaked man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You murdering a man in front of everyone has caused a red alert in the city. It doesn't help that you've announced who you are to the whole citta."

Claudia felt her face getting warmer. "He was tarnishing our name." She said stubbornly and then a thought occurred to her. "How could you possibly have known what I said?"

The cloaked man chuckled. His voice was dry and raspy. "I have spies everywhere." He said with flair. "We had some important work here, but your little stunt has compromised us. They cannot learn that we were here."

"They?"

Piccina…" Uncle Mario started.

"I'm not a little girl anymore!"

Her Uncle sighed tiredly. "No, you are not. 'They' refers to the Templars."

Claudia held onto her Mother's arm as they walked. There it was again- the whole issue with the Templars that would never be resolved because both sides were equally egoistic and none of them would ever back down.

"I know what you're thinking." Her Uncle said. "You still think that this fight with Templars is pointless. But one day, I hope you will see why we Assassin's do what we do."

The cloaked man gave another chuckle. "She says she wants nothing to do with Templars yet she just killed off one."

"What?" Claudia asked.

"Si, picci…Claudia." Uncle Mario said. He pointed towards the puddle and they walked around it, careful to avoid getting their clothes wet. "Uberto had made a deal with the Spaniard. He would help execute Giovanni if they paid him well. The Spaniard was so impressed with his work that he offered him a position in the Templar Order."

"Oh!" Claudia felt her heart beating fast. She had killed off a Templar! A Templar! All this while she had been making empty promises to herself to never get involved. Perhaps there was Assassin blood running through her veins.

Her Mother squeezed her hand and smiled. Claudia looked at the pride on her face and didn't know if she was actually seeing this. Was her Mother actually glad she had killed someone? Was she? Claudia asked herself of how she felt. Her nerves were still tingling and the hand with which she had ended that traitor's life felt warm. She instinctively reached for the dagger in her belt, hidden by a clean cloak. Her Uncle had insisted that she change her clothes immediately and had then burnt them. She had been about to discard the dagger as well, when Uncle Mario had stopped her and suggested that she hang onto it for a little while longer.

They were outside the city gates now and were walking towards a carriage waiting by the side of the road.

Her Uncle opened the door to the carriage and Claudia hesitated. She was leaving Firenze-her home- once again. She turned back to take one last glimpse of the city and its people when she saw someone running towards them.

It was a young man in a green shirt and as he sprinted closer, Claudia immediately recognized him as the thief who had advised her to make a run for it when she had stabbed Uberto.

"What is he…?"

The thief went over to the cloaked man. "Maestro, you're leaving?"

The cloaked man waved his hands nonchalantly. "There isn't much of a choice anymore."

"He's with you?" Claudia asked.

"Si." The cloaked man said.

"So…" Claudia gasped and turned to look at her Uncle in a furious glare. "You knew what I was about to do?"

Uncle Mario sighed and removed his hands from the carriage door. "Claudia, when you left Monteriggioni, you did not really think that I would not keep an eye on you? You are my niece; I had to know you were safe."

Claudia removed the dagger from her pocket. "You did this too?"

The cloaked man chuckled. "We couldn't let someone from a family of Assassins use a meager blade. So we paid the Blacksmith a little…extra."

"You knew I was planning to kill Uberto Alberti?" Claudia clutched her forehead. "You made me kill him."

"No, you did all that by yourself." The cloaked man said. He walked over to her and took her hand. "Anyone who kills a Templar deserves to be introduced to me. I am La Volpe." He bent his head down and kissed her hand.

Claudia pulled her hand and turned to her Uncle. "You could have killed him, instead!"

"Claudia…."

"No, Uncle Mario! It is true that I hate that betrayer, but did you really think that I would be happy that I killed someone?"

Uncle Mario stood up straight and his jaw hardened. "Are you regretting his death?"

Claudia swallowed. The truth was she had expected to be hit by overwhelming guilt at taking away a life, but so far she had only felt relief and a tiny glimmer of happiness that her Father's and Brother's deaths had been avenged.

"The point is that you could have stopped me."

"Petruccio has been trying for years to try and kill him. But he failed! Do you know why?" Her Uncle asked. His face had turned red with anger and Claudia instinctively stepped back.

"Because the moment he would get even a little bit closer to Uberto, he would be blinded by insecurities and guilt. Petruccio was a gentle boy. He understood responsibility but he thought it was more important to save a life than take them. And that's where he went wrong."

"Si, slaying people is far more entertaining to you Assassins!" Claudia said bitterly.

"Claudia!" Uncle Mario yelled. "You have much to learn."

"I have no intention of doing so!"

"Could we perhaps get into the carriage and have this discussion elsewhere?" La Volpe said. He sounded bored by all this and Claudia threw him an irritated glance. La Volpe ignored it and got into the carriage, offering his hand to her Mother.

Claudia reluctantly followed her Mother in and frowned when Uncle Mario took a seat opposite her. The carriage started to move and Claudia sighed. She didn't want to leave Firenze. This was where her family was buried and now she wouldn't find the chance to visit their graves. She was leaving her home and all her memories behind just because of one mistake.

Claudia looked down at the dagger she was holding. Her mind told her to throw it out the window, but she still couldn't even raise her hand to do so. What was stopping her? Claudia sunk into her seat. She hadn't found the time to process this, but now she could do so.

She had murdered Uberto. He was a traitor and deserved to die. Her Uncle had known that she intended to kill Uberto and instead of stopping her and discreetly helped her by buying her a dagger and placing a thief to help her. It had been so easy. All she had to do was stab Uberto and the thief would have distracted the guards from coming behind her.

"Where are we going? You did not tell me where we are going." She said.

Uncle Mario took a deep breath. "To Venezia. We have some important information to collect."

"Oh." Claudia longed to ask what kind of information but this journey was already off to a bad start. "What about me and my Mother?"

"What about it?" Her Uncle looked confused by her question.

Claudia squirmed in her seat. "Where do we….live? What will happen now that I have killed someone?"

La Volpe gave her a sly smile. "This was just a test for you Claudia. We found out what you were about to do and wanted to see what and how you would do." He explained. "If anything should go wrong, we were there for back up, but it was more important to see how you were going to carry it out."

"Oh? And what do you think now?" she asked sarcastically.

"Good." La Volpe said. "You took advantage of the fact that nobody knows you. You entered the exhibition with the poise of a learned woman so the guards didn't suspect you. But the execution was sloppy and you did not have an escape plan."

"With a little bit of training you will learn how to be a skilled Assassin." Uncle Mario said.

Claudia started to tell them she wasn't interested when she looked towards her Mother. Her Mother looked so pleased with the conversation and happy. In ten years, she had never seen her Mother so happy or even speak for that matter. But here was her Mother now- happy and proud of her.

Claudia took her Mother's hand in hers and squeezed gently.

"I am so proud of you Claudia." Her Mother smiled.

Claudia forced a smile back and then turned away to look out the window. Her Mother wanted her to be an Assassin? She looked back down at the dagger and then raised it.

She had a choice now. She could either throw the dagger away right now and take her Mother away from this life, or she could train to be an Assassin and make her Mother happy.

Claudia glanced at her Mother as she talked to Uncle Mario and then slipped the dagger back under her cloak.


	13. Chapter 13

They had stopped on the side of the road so that the driver could get out to stretch his legs.

"Have to feed the horses." The carriage driver told them.

Claudia pulled her money purse closer to her. It was dark and she was unsure of her surroundings. In a distance she could hear the howl of a wolf and she felt for her dagger.

"You will be safe." Uncle Mario told her. She looked up to see both her Uncle and La Volpe studying her.

"It is dark out. Aren't you afraid we might be attacked by _your _enemies?" She couldn't keep the bitterness as she said the last.

"Ha!" La Volpe exclaimed. "I would really like to see one of our enemies spring a surprise attack on us."

Uncle Mario regarded him grimly and then looked away. Claudia could see a flash of pain on his face but didn't understand why until La Volpe spoke up.

"What happened to your nephew wasn't a surprise attack. It was planned." La Volpe said.

"We weren't prepared." Her Uncle said disappointedly.

Claudia felt her heart clench and she swallowed through the lump in her throat. Petruccio's death still haunted her and she wished she could turn back time just to see her Brother one last time. She didn't even get to say a proper goodbye to him. She started to feel close to tears again. Come to think of it, she hadn't gotten to say goodbye to her Father or Federico or Ezio.

"What happened to him?" Her Mother asked. "How did my son die?"

Uncle Mario looked down at the ground and Claudia could see him struggling to speak. "We were in Toscana. It was night time and so far we had managed to kill several of the Pazzi's men."

La Volpe nodded. "It was the first time in months that we had managed to gain an advantage. Petruccio had improved greatly too." He then turned to Claudia, his eyes dark. "Your Uncle made sure he got plenty of rest and often kept him back."

"Petruccio was adamant." Her Uncle said. His voice held pain and in the darkness, Claudia could see him wiping away a tear. "He insisted that this was his destiny. After much debate, we allowed him to plan an attack on Vieri."

"The plan was good but had…er…" La Volpe scratched his long nose. "Minor flaws."

"Somehow, Vieri got wind of his plan to attack him from behind." Uncle Mario explained.

Claudia felt her Mother reach for her hand. She turned to see her Mother's lips quivering. This was too much to bear for her, but Claudia couldn't open her mouth to ask her Uncle to stop for fear that her own wavering voice would be noticed. She didn't want to cry, but the memory of her Brother was making it impossible not to do so.

"Somehow!" La Volpe scoffed.

Mario turned to him. "There is absolutely no evidence to support your claim."

"Petruccio discussed his plan with you., me and Machiavelli." La Volpe told him.

"What are you both talking about?" Her Mother spoke up. Claudia was surprised to hear how calm her Mother's voice sounded considering that Uncle Mario was relating the incident where her son had been killed.

"That is not important." Mario said.

"You cannot…" La Volpe began but Uncle Mario cut him short.

"Perhaps you could use a little fresh air too." He suggested.

Claudia could see La Volpe give a disgruntled look, open the carriage door and slam it behind him.

Uncle Mario sighed and shook his head. "Vieri purposely positioned himself on the tower- all alone. Petruccio should have seen something was amiss, but he grew confident and approached him only to find the Brutes there. He was pinned down immediately and killed by Vieri."

Her Mother gasped and covered her mouth.

"Mother?" Claudia said slowly.

Her Mother pulled her closer and put an arm around her. "I will not cry and neither will you." Her Mother's voice was controlled yet calm. "Your Brother had a chance to do something incredible and stood up to it and died a hero."

Claudia didn't trust herself to speak so she squeezed her Mother's hand and nodded.

"I am so proud of you that you have decided to join the Assassin's too!" Her Mother said.

Claudia pulled away from her Mother. She wiped the single tear that had rolled down and started to tell her Mother that she didn't think she wanted to. And that she knew her Mother would be proud of her but chances were pretty good that she would be killed too and her Mother would have no one to support her.

Uncle Mario looked at her expectantly. "Is it so?" his voice was underlined with excitement.

Claudia swallowed. She looked at her Mother and saw her smile at her. "I…"

"Of course she is, Mario." Her Mother answered for her. "She killed Uberto! She showed all of us that she has it in her to become a capable fighter."

Claudia bit her lip hard. What had she done? She had just wanted to kill the man who had betrayed her family, not pass an initiation to join the Assassin Order.

Uncle Mario raised his arm and put it down gently on her shoulder. "I am proud of you nipote."

Claudia blinked at him; still unable to utter a word.

"As soon as we reach Venezia, you could start training. Machiavelli is there. He could help you." Her Uncle said.

Claudia clasped her hands together and looked out the window at the full moon in the sky. The stars surrounding it twinkled rhythmically against the inky sky causing her to just for a second, reflect on the beauty of the night. And then that feeling was gone and replaced by what she had just been asked to do.

La Volpe, although still in a grumpy mood, entered the carriage and took his seat. The driver announced that they would be riding again and Claudia settled comfortably in her seat. She needed the rest for the road ahead even though sleep would inevitably elude her. She would have to force it- force herself to rest and prepare herself for the life she was expected to lead.

*/*/*/*/*

Venezia was beautiful- there was absolutely no doubt about that. They arrived just as the sun had set, and by the time they reached their destination, the sky had turned cobalt. Claudia pushed away her nagging thoughts and took the opportunity of this long walk, to look all around her.

Venezia was quite different from Firenze. The people here dressed even more fashionably in silks and velvet and as soon as the sun had set, they had thronged outside to picnic near the canals.

The canals! Claudia couldn't take her eyes off the shimmering surface of the water as they walked on the bridge.

Her Uncle was giving her Mother a brief tour, but she had purposely lagged behind so that she could steal a few moments to collect her thoughts. She distinctly heard her Uncle say "Ponte Rialto."

La Volpe on the other hand looked thoughtful and wore a sour expression on his face. Something was obviously bothering him, but Claudia did not want to bother to know. She had enough to process already. She was going to be trained to be an Assassin and the frustrating part was that her mentor would be none other than Machiavelli- the man she wanted nothing to do with. Sure, Vieri had outsmarted them, but why was Petruccio all alone? Machiavelli and her Uncle had promised her! They should have known better than to send Petruccio all by himself.

But all that meant nothing anymore. In Monteriggioni she had seen only nightmares in her sleep but now she would be living one.

"You should have come visit Venezia during Carnevale." Uncle Mario was saying.

Her Mother gave him a smile. "You forget, Mario. I have already been here with Giovanni."

"Ah yes!" he replied. "If I remember it was during the Carnevale too. Who was it again?"

"No one important." Her Mother replied. "It was a corrupt official. I asked to accompany him so that we could spend some time together."

Her Uncle laughed. "My Brother was an odd fellow. He didn't know of your plans and invited me!"

Her Mother laughed with him and Claudia smiled despite herself. It felt good to hear her Mother's voice after so long and especially her laughing. Her Mother was finally happy and Claudia realized that it was mostly because she had assumed that her daughter was ready to join the Order.

Claudia quietly followed them. She no longer wanted to take in the beautiful sights of Venezia. What would be the point anyway? From today onwards she would spend all her time with blades and inconsequential fights.

She felt for her dagger through her cloak and looked down at the canal. She could throw it into the waters and make a run for it right now. Her Mother would be safe with Uncle Mario and she could go…where?

Claudia felt her eyes welling up with tears and blinked furiously. She had to stop crying and think rationally. If joining the Assassin's meant it would make her Mother happy then she should do it. But why was this so hard for her?

"Antonio!" Uncle Mario greeted and Claudia saw a skinny man with shoulder-length dark hair and a thin moustache approach them.

"Benvenuti!" he greeted. As he came closer Claudia saw that it was the same man who had come to Monteriggioni with La Volpe.

"This is Antonio." Her Uncle told her. "Antonio, this is my niece Claudia and her Mother Maria."

Antonio bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you ladies. Come on in."

Claudia regarded the building before her pensively. The exterior was off white and in need of a paint job. There was scaffolding on the side and Claudia wondered if there was construction going on or incomplete. The two-story building before her didn't look the least bit inviting to her and she longed to be back home in Firenze in her Villa.

Antonio was chatting amicably with them and he was about to open the door when it opened from the inside and a familiar face came out.

"Mario." He greeted.

"Niccolò, it is nice to see you." Her Uncle responded.

Machiavelli started to say something else when his eyes fell on her. Claudia immediately looked away. In her mind she still saw herself slapping him as he tried helplessly to explain why he hadn't brought back her Brother alive.

"Mario, what is going on?" he asked in a harsh tone.

"Niccolò, Claudia would like to join our Order." Her Uncle said.

"What? Impossible!"

Claudia looked at him then. Who was he to tell her what she could and couldn't do?

"Niccolò…"

"I refuse to let you do this!" Machiavelli said and walked over to her. "You are making a big mistake."

Before Claudia could say something, Machiavelli stormed away leaving her completely perplexed.


	14. Chapter 14

"Never mind him." Antonio said. "Come on in."

Claudia followed her Mother and Uncle inside and looked all around the room. From the outside, the building had looked worn down and shabby, but the inside was completely the opposite of what she had thought.

She had imagined the interiors to be plain, with a few wooden chairs for seating and a large clunky table in the center. Instead, the room was decorated with exquisite furniture. There were sofas and long chairs placed near the fireplace. There was a large table, but it was positioned on the other side of the room and had been adorned with a silk tablecloth. There were candles lit up all around the room and she could smell the sweet scent of jasmine in the room.

The walls were cream colored and five book shelves were leaning against it. She made her way to them and looked at the large collection of books with unconcealed surprise. There were books in this shelf that she had never even heard of before. Her fingers brushed against the thick covers and then stopped when she came across a book written in a different language.

"You like books?" Antonio asked.

Claudia immediately pulled her hand away as if she had touched needles. "I used to."

"You can read any book you want." Antonio said kindly. "We don't find much time to read nowadays."

Claudia reached for a book in a foreign language and looked at him gingerly. "I do not recognize the letterings."

Antonio took the book from her gently. "It is in Arabic. One of the founders of this Order spoke this language many years ago. I am trying to learn it so we can better understand his tenets."

"Ah yes! Altair." Uncle Mario said. "He was a fearless Assassin and also the most proficient. He rose above his arrogance and learnt the true meaning of being an Assassin."

Her Mother took the book from Antonio's hands. "Isn't this the very book Giovanni had given you?"

Antonio nodded. "It seems he was better at understanding what is written than I."

Her Mother smiled and flicked through the pages. "Giovanni spent hours perusing several books to learn the language so he could understand some of the writings on the Codex."

Claudia looked at the three of them and suddenly felt like an outsider. Her Mother hadn't spoken in ten years and yet she knew about what was going on more than her. What was the Codex and who was Altair?

Uncle Mario sighed. "Altair left behind his armor for the next Assassin. But so far none of us have been able to find the seals that would open up the gates to it."

"Altair was clever." Antonio said. "He wanted the most deserving Assassin to wear it."

"Have we made any progress with the Codex?" Her Mother asked.

Uncle Mario shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to decipher it. Petruccio found two more pages, but we haven't been able to understand what these pages contain."

Her Mother sat down on one of the sofas and put her hand on her forehead. "How will we Assassin's succeed if we don't make any progress soon?"

Uncle Mario knelt beside her and took her hand in his. "Do not worry Maria. The Assassins will stand again. Claudia will stand up against the Templars and help us win this fight."

Claudia bit her lip and turned back to the bookshelf under the pretext of studying the other books. Too much was being expected from her and as much as she wanted to see her Mother happy, she also knew that she didn't want to be a part of this. She wanted a normal life and a normal family. Instead, she was now being coaxed into joining the Assassins. Another thought came to her then.

Uncle Mario had told her that she would start training tomorrow morning, but what if she couldn't? What if she wasn't good at fighting? Her Mother would be so disappointed.

"Porca Puttana!" she heard someone yell from upstairs.

She heard a loud thumping sound and then hurried footsteps come down the stairs.

"Rosa!" she heard a man's voice call. "Don't run down the stairs. In your condition, you mustn't…"

"Zitto!" she heard the woman say.

Antonio let out a loud sigh and opened the door to let a woman with short black hair enter. She had green eyes and long lashes and she was dressed in a long purple shirt and tights. As she stepped closer into the light, Claudia also noticed that she was pregnant.

"What is it piccolo?" Antonio asked and put his hand gently under her chin.

The woman pushed his hand away. "You're no better than my idiot husband!" she yelled.

Claudia stepped back. The woman before her was pretty and if she had worn a dress, instead, Claudia would have easily mistaken her for a noblewoman. But the woman's voice was sharp and she spoke in an insulting tone.

A man stepped in behind her dressed in a thief's attire. He looked disheveled and there was a cut on the side of his face. "Rosa, per favore, listen to me."

Rosa turned sharply towards him. "Ottenere la testa fuori dal culo!"

The man started to say something when he noticed the people around the room. Claudia immediately felt sorry for him as he blushed furiously.

Antonio put his arm around the woman and brought her forward. "This is Rosa." He introduced. "She's the dearest to me."

"Ha!" Rosa said. "Who are these people?"

"Rosa this is Maria Auditore and her daughter Claudia." Antonio said.

Rosa immediately dropped her attitude and went over to Maria. "It is such a pleasure to meet you. I have heard so much about your husband's work in Firenze."

Claudia blinked. Her Father's work when he was a banker? Why would they care about that? And then she understood. It had taken her so many years to finally understand that her Father hadn't chanced upon becoming an Assassin. He had been one all his life and his family had been oblivious to all his activities.

Claudia looked at her Mother. "How much had her Mother known? Petruccio had been the one to tell her that her Father hadn't been a banker but an Assassin. But at the time she had thought that Petruccio had been exaggerating in his childish way.

"I am Ugo, Rosa's husband." The man said, stepping forward.

"The husband who forgot to bring his pregnant wife flowers." Rosa sniped.

"You don't even like flowers." Ugo said.

"This whole house smells like sweaty men." Rosa said. "Excuse me if I want to be able to smell something other than that."

"Rosa, I have sprayed jasmine scent all over for you." Antonio said calmly.

Rosa crossed her arms and looked furious. "I don't like jasmine! And I hate staying indoors every day."

"Bene." Antonio said. "Ugo, why don't you take Rosa on a gondola ride?"

"I don't want to go on a _pezza di merda_ gondola!" Rosa cried. "I want to climb up on a building and push some of those _stronzo_ guards off the roof!"

Claudia stepped back even more, hoping to become invisible. Is that what the Assassin's did? Push guards off the roofs? Or maybe it was just the thieves. Yes, it had to be only them.

"But you're pregnant!" Ugo told her.

"And it is all your fault!" Rosa said.

Maria walked over to her and put her arm around her shoulders. "Why don't you come with me." She said soothingly. "A breath of fresh night air will help you calm your worries."

"Bene." Rosa said reluctantly, as if she rather spew more insults at her husband. The two women walked out and Claudia stood awkwardly by the window, watching her Mother talk to Rosa.

"Nipote." Uncle Mario said. "You should get some rest. Tomorrow morning we'll begin your training."

"Machiavelli isn't likely to return." La Volpe told him.

"Niccolò may disagree on a lot of things, but he knows his responsibilities." Uncle Mario replied. "He will help us train her."

La Volpe rubbed his chin with his long fingers. "That remains to be seen." He said acidly and walked away.

Claudia watched him leave in a huff and wondered what was going on between him and Machiavelli. Was it going to be one more of those things she would find out only later?

"Come, Claudia." Antonio said. "Let me show you to your room."

Claudia followed him upstairs, all the while wondering how she was going to face Machiavelli tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 15

"Claudia…wake up caro." Her Mother gently shook her shoulders.

Claudia turned away from her and let herself drown back into her dreams. It was a nice dream but it was also a memory of something that had happened more than ten years ago.

She was sitting on the bench outside the house and waiting for Ezio to come back. The people outside were going about their daily lives and she craned her neck to sought out her Brother from the crowd.

Her Brother had promised her he would be back in fifteen minutes and sure enough, he kept his promise. She saw him running towards her and panting. His hair had loosened from his red ribbon and his waistcoat had patches of dust on them. There was a small bruise forming on the side of his chin and another one on his knuckles.

"_So it is done?" she asked and pouted._

"_Si. Duccio de Luca will never bother you again." Ezio said and sat down beside her, his breath still heavy and fast._

"_Bene. I hope he got what he deserved."_

_Ezio gave a short laugh. "He was on the ground when I left him, calling for his madre."_

_Claudia grinned at him. "I wish I could have kicked him in the groin for cheating on me!"_

"_I did the kicking for you, piccina."_

_They both started to laugh then and that's when Federico showed up, his brows furrowed. "What is this that I hear?" he asked, splaying his hands. "Ezio, you beat up Duccio?"_

"_And I would do it again!" Ezio said stubbornly. "He was mistreating our sister and gallivanting around with harpies."_

_Federico tsk-tsked. "This is unfortunate. But now how else will we get rid of Claudia? Who will we find to take her off our hands?"_

_Claudia uttered a gasp and that's when Ezio got up suddenly and slapped his head. "Dio mio! What have I done? Dio ci salvi!"_

"_How could you say that?" she asked in complete shock._

_Federico looked at them with mock horror. "Questo e terribile! Now wherever shall we find someone who would want to marry our sister!"_

"_It is all my fault!" Ezio cried. "I should go right away and plead for forgiveness."_

_Claudia felt her lip tremble and started to cry. "You both are horrible!"_

_Federico laughed and sat down next to her while Ezio sat down on the other side. "Come, piccina. We were only teasing."_

"_Si." Ezio said and removed his handkerchief from his pocket. "We would never let our sister marry an idiota like Duccio."_

_Claudia took the handkerchief and started to wipe her face. "Really?"_

"_Si. Unless it's absolutely necessary." Federico joked. "If we don't find anyone in a week, Ezio will just have to go to Duccio and apologize."_

"_Why?" she asked and her response only generated more laughter from her Brothers. And that was when she finally understood that her Brothers were only teasing her._

_She threw the handkerchief on the ground and stomped over to complain to her Father._

"Claudia." Her Mother said again.

"I don't want to marry him." She mumbled and then snapped open her eyes.

"What?" her Mother asked and sat down next to her. She caressed her face and looked at her worriedly. Claudia took her hand and got up.

"Nothing. I was only dreaming." She said. But what a dream it had been. It had felt so nice to be back there and feel protected by her Brothers and knowing fully well that they wouldn't let anyone hurt her. And if they ever teased her, she knew that her Father would always take her side.

"Well then, get up." Her Mother said. She walked over to a table and picked up a cloak. "These are your robes. You shall wear them from today."

Claudia rubbed away the sleep from her eyes and looked at the plain white cloak and hood with matching pants. Under the table, she spotted a pair of brown boots. "Oh." She said quietly. She had worn dresses all her life and now it seemed she would have to give up her womanly ways as well for the Order.

"Get dressed quickly. Your training begins from today." Her Mother sounded excited and she kept trying to smooth the wrinkles on the robes.

Claudia swung her legs over and clutched the mattress. Morning had arrived and she hadn't contemplated on how she was going to face Machiavelli. It was his fault that she had reacted the way she had because he was the one who had broken the promise to her. But why did she feel so guilty and embarrassed?

Her Mother sighed then and Claudia looked up. "What is the matter?"

"There's a small tear at the hem. Hand me the sewing box." Her Mother replied and took her place at the chair.

Claudia opened up the drawers and saw two boxes inside. One of them was the trinket box where she had stuffed in the feathers her Mother had been collecting and the other was a small wooden box with a white thread sticking out. She picked it up and handed it over to her Mother.

Her Mother immediately opened it and started to thread a needle.

Claudia looked at the other box and then at her Mother, half expecting to be scolded for being so curious.

"Mother?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Hmm?" Her Mother held the cloak closer to the light coming from the window and started to stitch.

Claudia swallowed. "Why are you collecting feathers?"

Her Mother looked up at her and then at the open drawer. She gave her a sad smile and returned to her sewing. "They aren't mine. Petruccio was collecting them."

"Petruccio? Why?"

Her Mother took a deep breath and shook her head sadly. "He started collecting them when he was thirteen. You were engaged to Duccio and were about to be married to him soon. Petruccio wanted to gift you something special, so he had this idea to make a wedding dress for you made entirely out of feathers."

Claudia smiled. "Feathers?"

"I told him it would be impossible, but he said that he wanted to do it and asked me to help him when he finished collecting hundreds of feathers." Her Mother's tone faltered then. "Over the years, whenever he went anywhere, he was sure to bring me back some feathers and promised me that one day when I would get better; he would get you married and make you wear a feather dress."

"He's been collecting feathers for years?" Claudia felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"He wanted to see you get married." Her Mother bowed her head down further but Claudia had seen the tears in her Mother's eyes.

Claudia got up and reached for the boots. "Is the cloak ready? I should get changed now." She said, changing the subject.

Her Mother twirled a finger around the thread, broke it and handed it over to her. "Here you go."

Claudia took it and let her hands brush the material.

"Piccina?"

She looked up to see her Mother with tears in her eyes. "I am so proud of you for doing this." She got up and hugged her. "Never forget what we Assassins stand for."

What did the Assassin's stand for? Claudia pondered on this as she went downstairs. As far as she knew the Assassins stood against the Templars, but why?

"Claudia." Uncle Mario greeted. He was sitting on his desk, reading some papers. "Machiavelli is waiting for you outside."

Claudia took a deep breath and looked down at the dagger in her hands. "I am ready."

Uncle Mario got up and opened the back door for her. Claudia went through it and walked over to where Machiavelli was. He was conversing with a thief and then stopped the minute he laid his eyes on her.

"You have come." He stated.

Claudia nodded and wondered if he was going to bring up their last encounter. If he did, she would tell him straight up that he deserved it. She felt her cheeks getting hotter then and wondered if she was starting to believe that perhaps it hadn't been Machiavelli's fault that her Brother had died. Or her Uncle's fault for that matter.

Machiavelli said something to the thief who nodded and then went away. Claudia looked back at the dagger in her hand. She had used this to kill Uberto and now she would use this to kill more Templars.

"You will not be using that today." Machiavelli said, coming towards her.

Claudia straightened her cloak and looked at him with a frown. Machiavelli took out a sword from his belt and handed it to her. "I will be teaching you to use this."

Claudia took the sword in her hands gingerly and found it to be heavy in her hands. She expected Machiavelli to give her instructions on how to use it, instead he began telling her about the history of swords and how different hilts were used to produce different results.

Claudia barely heard him as he went on and on about the swords. Her mind drifted to her dream and then what her Mother had told her about Petruccio's little secret. And then her mind returned to Machiavelli. He looked younger to her and she wondered what prompted him to become an Assassin at such a young age.

"And now we begin." He said.

"What?" Claudia asked. She blinked at him in confusion and then saw him removing another sword from his belt.

"Were you paying attention?" he looked angry and Claudia swallowed uncomfortably.

"Of course I was." She replied, hoping he wouldn't start asking her questions.

"Bene. So here's how you hold a sword." He said and positioned his blade. "While defending, you turn your sword at a slight slant."

Claudia started to lose herself in her thoughts again. Petruccio had wanted her to get married and settle down, but why hadn't he told her this? And would any man in their right mind would want to marry into a family of Assassins?

"…and this should be your stance while attacking." Machiavelli was saying.

Claudia nodded quickly. The sun was starting to feel warmer on her back and she adjusted her cloak again. She could feel a bead of sweat travel down her spine. It was getting stuffier under the layers of clothes and she longed to get inside and wear one of her dresses.

Machiavelli studied her with a frown on his face. "So you have understood everything?"

"Of course." She lied. She wanted to go inside now and remove her Assassin robes. She was more comfortable in her skirts that these pants and heavy cloak. Also, the sword in her hand felt too heavy and her palms were starting to get sweaty.

"Very well then." Machiavelli said and raised his sword. "Let us see, what you've learnt so far."

Claudia was taken aback. "Wait…what?"

"Put away your dagger and fight me." Machiavelli said.

Claudia put the dagger in her belt and looked at the sword in her hands. How was she supposed to hold it again?

She glimpsed at the way Machiavelli was holding his and imitated his stance. Machiavelli immediately hit her blade with his and Claudia almost dropped it.

Machiavelli shook his head disappointedly. "Try again. I want you to deflect my attacks the way I showed you."

Claudia scrambled her brain to try to remember but couldn't. How was she supposed to deflect his attack?

Machiavelli struck again, but this time Claudia didn't jump back. She hit her blade against his with all her energy.

"Better." Machiavelli said. "But you had anticipated this. An enemy wouldn't tell you where he was attacking and when."

Claudia nodded and readied her sword again.

"This time I want you to disarm me."

Claudia started to ask how to do that when she realized she would also have to tell him that she hadn't been paying attention to him in the first place.

"Are you ready?" he asked and she thought she had spotted a teasing glint in his eye.

Claudia looked down at her sword. Would she have to aim at his hand or…did she even have to use a sword?

"Your enemy will come unannounced, but as you are learning, I will tell you exactly when I'll strike."

His voice was almost condescending and Claudia scowled at him. She could do this. She would show him that the Auditores were good fighters.

She readied her sword and when Machiavelli started to hit her, she aimed for his hand and….missed. Machiavelli had side-stepped away and was now standing right beside her. He took her left arm and twisted it behind her back.

"You weren't paying attention were you?" He hissed. "I never taught you how to disarm your enemies.

Claudia felt a rush of anger inside her and reached for her dagger. She turned it in her hand and stabbed him on his upper arm. Machiavelli let go of her immediately and uttered a surprised cry.

Claudia started to tell him that she wasn't weak when she suddenly realized what she had done. Her dagger was sticking out of his upper right arm and blood trickled down from it.

"Oh no! What have I done?" She said. She stepped back and covered her mouth with her hands. She hadn't meant to hurt him and she had acted on impulse. Again!

Machiavelli grunted in response and clutched his arm.

"Mi dispiace." She said. "I didn't mean to…I…"

Machiavelli ignored her and started to pull out the dagger.

"Don't!" she almost screamed. Machiavelli looked at her in disgruntled surprise. "I'll go call a doctor…si, I'll go right away." Without waiting for him to respond, she turned around and ran towards the exit.

She ran down the streets, looking all around her. Where were the doctors? She should have asked him where a doctor was or someone else. She stopped and looked all around her. She wasn't in Firenze where she knew every single corner of the city. She was in Venezia and on unfamiliar streets.

"Fresh caught leeches! Get your fresh caught leeches here!" someone yelled.

Claudia moved towards the voice and sighed in relief. A doctor! She had found a doctor! She made her way over to his stand and calmed herself down. "I need your assistance. I…he…"  
Claudia swallowed. Was she really going to tell the doctor that she had just stabbed someone?

"Someone is hurt!" she said. "Please, I need some medicine."

The Doctor reached for a vial on the small shelf and handed it to her. "That will be a hundred florins."

Claudia reached for her pockets and saw that they were empty. "I…I have forgotten to bring my money pouch with me."

The Doctor pulled back his hand and put down the vial. "I cannot help you then."

"But it is urgent!" she pleaded.

The Doctor shrugged and went back to calling his customers. Claudia looked at the vial and started to snatch it and just run with it when someone else's hand reached for it.

She turned to see a tall man with shoulder length blond hair. He was dressed elegantly in red robes and a matching beret. She quickly identified the rich Florentine color. Whoever he was, came from Firenze.

He gave her a small smile before turning to the doctor. "This woman needs your assistance. Why will you not help her?"

"She has no money." The Doctor said. "I have a wife and kids to feed."

"And if someone dies, it will be on your head. Have you forgotten your oaths?" The blond haired man said. He reached into his pocket and put down a small pouch of money. "Here you go."

The Doctor thanked him and the blond-haired man handed her the small vial of medicine.

Claudia took it and murmured thanks.

"Do you know how to use it?" He asked kindly.

"Si…I just apply it to the wound." She said.

The man nodded. "But you need to clean the wounds too."

Claudia put the vial in her pocket. "Oh."

"And you will need a bandage."

Claudia searched for a bandage on the Doctor's stand and found none.

"I've run out." The Doctor apologized.

The blond-haired man gently touched her elbow. "I have some bandages with me. Come, let me help you."

Claudia started to walk and looked at him warily. "Are you a Doctor too?"

The man gave a small laugh. "No. I am carrying bandages for a special project. I am an artist."

"Oh." Claudia replied distractedly. In her mind she kept seeing herself stabbing Machiavelli. What had gotten into her? What had she done? She would never forgive herself!

"You're new in the city?" the man asked.

"Si."

"You look familiar." The man said.

Claudia looked down at his robes and blinked. "You look like you're from Firenze. Your robes are Florentine."

"You have guessed right. I was invited to Venezia for work." He said.

Claudia quickened her steps. While her companion seemed in the mood for idle chatter, she wasn't. Machiavelli was hurt because of her. She saw the entrance to the thieves' hideout and entered.

Machiavelli was sitting on a bench, looking like he was in great agony.

"I have brought the medicine." She said.

Machiavelli looked annoyed with her, but said nothing. The man behind her entered and Machiavelli considered him cautiously.

The blond-haired man grinned. "Ah, Niccolò Machiavelli." He said.

"I was unaware that I was well known." Machiavelli replied dryly.

"You are quite the Assassin." The stranger said.

Claudia turned around, her eyes widening in surprise. Who had she brought in their midst? Was he a foe? "Who are you? You said you were an artist."

The blond-haired man bowed. "I am. I'm Leonardo da Vinci."


	16. Chapter 16

Without saying another word or even giving her a second look, he took the medicine from her hands and turned to the stranger who had introduced himself as Leonardo da Vinci.

Claudia stood there momentarily, wondering if she should help him apply the medicine or with the bandages the artist was removing from his pocket.

But both men had begun chatting and Claudia stepped back awkwardly. The artist told Machiavelli that he had heard of him and his work in Firenze. "At such a young age, it is remarkable the way you've progressed in the Assassin Order."

"And how do you know so much?" Machiavelli asked. His tone was guarded as he continued to apply the salve on his arm.

Leonardo gave a small laugh. "Are you asking me how I know of the Assassin's or how I know that you are one?"

Claudia looked at the stranger and suddenly felt the sharp prick of a memory. "Oh." She said suddenly. "Oh, you're that Leonardo da Vinci?"

Leonardo looked pleased and grinned at her. "You have grown up. When your Mother last introduced us, you were a cheeky little girl and already engaged to someone."

Claudia smiled back at him. "Your paintings are marvelous. We have three still hanging at our home." She stopped suddenly then. There had been three of them alright and beside one of them- a portrait of a man- the words ' Traditore' had been inscribed. She shook that memory away. It was gone. She had scrubbed hard and removed that obscene word from the walls. Unfortunately, she had yet to erase it from her mind.

"Your Mother was one of my greatest motivators. Without her help and endorsement, I would have never found the confidence to showcase my art to the world."

"So that's how you know about the Assassins." She concluded. "My Mother told you."

"In confidence." Leonardo said. "I owe your family a great deal." His smile fell then. "And it pains me that your family has had to suffer a great deal."

"So why are you here?" Machiavelli's tone was still sharp.

"Ah, I was invited by Carlo Crivelli to move here for a little while. He wants me to paint something for him. A self-portrait, some architectural structures and whatnot."

"Hmm." Machiavelli twirled the roll of bandage around his arm. Leonardo seemed unaware of Machiavelli's snub and continued to make small talk with him.

"Leonardo?" Claudia watched her Mother enter with a surprised look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

Leonardo repeated his reasons and Claudia stepped closer towards the door. Suddenly, she felt like an outsider who didn't know anyone or anything about the Order she had joined. Her Mother sat down next to them and asked him about his work, while Machiavelli finished bandaging his arm and contributed to the discussion by talking about the arts.

Claudia entered the thieves' hideout and shut the door behind her. She crept upstairs and went into her room, hoping to get some rest now, incase Machiavelli wanted her to train later in the evening.

She sat on her bed and looked out the window. The sun rays light up the room and she could feel it's warmth on her skin. She inhaled deeply and savored the sweet smell of the air. Jasmine. The air strangely smelled of the tiny white flowers she had seen downstairs.

She remembered the woman she had met last night and wondered if she was still in an irritated mood or her Mother had managed to calm herself down. Claudia started to lie down, and found that she couldn't and that she really didn't want to lie down when her mind was whirling thoughts she wished she could just discard.

She had hurt someone today and it wasn't a traitor to her family but a young man who had offered to help her train. What was happening to her? Had she become a killer?

Claudia clutched the side of the mattress with both hands and bowed her head. She should have had more control of her emotions. If she lost herself, then she would go completely insane.

She felt tears well up in her eyes and she blinked them back furiously. The walls of the room were suddenly closing in on her. She didn't want to be here in this small and smartly furnished room. She didn't want to be surrounded by people she didn't even know and she definitely didn't want to be an Assassin and kill people.

"Signorina?" Claudia snapped her eyes open and turned to see a young boy enter. He had short black hair and wide brown eyes. He wore a blue scarf around his neck and was dressed in clothes she had seen the thieves wear around here.

Claudia got up and wondered how old the boy was. Instead of attending a school, he was robbed away from his childhood and made to steal from people? What kind of world was she in?

"Messer Machiavelli is asking for you." He said shyly.

Claudia meant to ask him how old he was and when he had become a thief and if he perhaps wished to have a more productive life that this, when she stopped herself. He was just a young boy and not someone she wanted to burden with her confusion.

"Oh. I shall come downstairs right away."

"He is waiting for you in his room." He replied quickly. "He wishes to speak to you alone."

Claudia could feel her face getting warmer. Machiavelli was sure to taunt her about her lack of control and insult her for being a poor combatant. But that was not why she didn't want to go. The truth was she was ashamed of what she had done and couldn't find the nerve to show her face to him. He had helped her- once in Monteriggioni and now here. Instead, she had repaid his kindness by hurting him.

"I shall be right away." She said in a faltering tone. She couldn't hide forever, could she?

The boy smiled widely and ran off. She could hear him running down the stairs and came out of her room to peer down. "Guardare!" she told him. The boy looked up and stopped. He nodded and went down slowly.

Claudia took a deep breath and looked down the hallway to where Machiavelli's room was. The door to his room was slightly ajar and she could hear him talking to someone in a soft tone.

Claudia walked over and knocked on the door.

"Entrare." Machiavelli said and Claudia stepped in. He was speaking to a thief in low tones and upon her arrival, his voice had lowered even more.

The thief nodded a few times and took a package with him. He went over to her, bowed his head in greeting and went out, shutting the door behind him.

Machiavelli put away his papers and Claudia took a deep breath. "I am sorry." She said. He looked up at her and Claudia couldn't read his expressions. "What I did was terrible and I am extremely sorry for that."

"For what?" he asked and bent down to rummage in the drawers. Claudia couldn't see his face, so she wasn't sure if his inquiry was serious or not.

"For hurting you." Claudia clasped her hands together. "I did not mean to."

"That's is alright." He said and continued to rummage in the drawers. She could hear the faint rustle of papers.

"How could it be? I stabbed you with my dagger."

Machiavelli straightened them and Claudia saw him holding a large stack of papers. "It was my fault. I underestimated you. I thought I had you in my grasp and it never occurred to me that you may be carrying a secondary weapon. It was careless of me."

"I had no right to…"

"Claudia! Basta!" Machiavelli said agitatedly. "Let's not pull threads anymore. People get hurt during training. You must not continuously concern yourself with these things. I have called you for another reason."

"And what is that?"

"Have a seat." Machiavelli said and bent down to rummage through another drawer.

Claudia found an empty chair and sat down, unable to keep her eyes off the bandage on his arm. She had done that to him. How could she?

Machiavelli walked over to her and she kept her head bowed.

"I have to leave tonight. I have some important work in Firenze." Machiavelli told her.

Claudia remained quiet. It was obvious that he was angry with her, why else was he leaving?

Machiavelli sat down across from her and placed the stack of papers on the desk beside them. "It is not because of your actions." He told her.

Claudia felt the prick of tears again and swallowed. "I don't know what came over me."

"You have unresolved feelings." He told her. "You are still grieving your Brother's death and since you had to repress in quickly for the sake of your Mother, it has turned into anger and resentment for the people you think were responsible for Petruccio's death."

Claudia shook her head. "No, I know it wasn't your fault or my Uncle's. He and La Volpe explained what had happened. It was Vieri's fault."

"I'm glad you understand that we did everything we could to keep Petruccio safe and bring him back to you." He said softly.

Claudia nodded.

"But that wasn't the only reason either." Machiavelli got up and opened up a box. He proceeded to put the stack of papers neatly inside it. "You feel pressurized to become an Assassin."

Claudia gasped. "How did you know?" she asked and immediately bit her lip hard. She had no intention of telling Machiavelli her innermost thoughts.

"That is because I didn't approve of you joining the Assassins." He replied. "And now it's no longer a secret about what your Uncle and I were arguing about in Monteriggioni."

"You didn't want me to be an Assassin?"

"Si." Machiavelli put the last of the papers in the box and closed it. "I thought it was a far dangerous life for you to lead, considering what you had already gone through. I assure you that I never wanted this for you."

"Uncle Mario wanted me to become an Assassin?" Claudia asked.

"Si. He was aware of Petruccio's deteriorating health, but the Assassins were losing and he wanted every hand he could get."

Claudia got up from her chair. "What? I cannot believe…."

"Aspetta, Claudia." He said. "Before you decide to jump to conclusions, you need to know something else."

"And what is that?" she asked.

"You need to understand why we Assassins do what we do and what we stand for." Machiavelli replied.


	17. Chapter 17

"Do you know why the Templars are our greatest enemy?"

Claudia shook her head slowly. "I assume it has something to do with a difference in ideologies."

"Hah! That's an understatement." He replied and poured tea into a cup. "The Templars were formed a long, long time ago. They have always sought to create the perfect world."

Claudia took the cup he offered and sipped from it slowly. "That doesn't seem like such a bad idea."

"This perfect world they wanted to create consisted of humanity giving up on their free will." Machiavelli explained. "They wanted to control the way people thought and acted so they could create a new world. As Assassins, we believe that people should always have the freedom to choose the path they take."

"Do you not think that some people require control?" Claudia asked. "If there were no laws to withhold people, they would abuse their free will by committing crimes."

"But that isn't the Templar's agenda. How would you feel if the Templars started to not only overlook but control every aspect of your life?" Machiavelli said. "What if they decided not only what you should do but how you should think?"

Claudia smiled bitterly. "Isn't my life already being dictated? I'm already being forced to…" Claudia got up from her chair and bit her tongue. "I mean…"

"You have nothing to hide from me, Claudia. I am merely trying to change your perspective about the Order. You cannot become an Assassin until you believe in the creed."

"I fear that I may let my Mother down." Claudia said. "I understand that the Templar seek to control mankind and the Assassins want only freedom, but why must we resort to violence? Why can't we work together?"

She saw a glint of amusement in his eyes and frowned. Machiavelli was making fun of her ideas and she hated to be judged so."

"Perhaps if the Templars weren't engaged in their pursuit to control everything, then they wouldn't have been averse to this idea." Machiavelli said and then grew more serious. "Over the years, the Templars have grown more ruthless and seek to create this perfect world by any means possible. Even if it means that they must eliminate those who come in their way."

Claudia gasped. "You mean my Father…?"

"He had thwarted the Templar's plans some years ago and they had to make sure that the Assassins wouldn't cause them any more trouble."

Claudia started to feel light-headed. "By any means possible? They killed my family because they were getting in their way?"

Machiavelli put a hand on her shoulder. "Your Father knew what he was getting into. He was a brave man and so were your brothers." He smiled gently at her. "And so are you?"

"My Brothers died. They weren't Assassins. They didn't get a chance to be brave." Claudia was starting to cry and she couldn't find herself unable to stop.

"They were." Machiavelli said. "Your Father has saved many innocent lives. Your brother Federico has defended your Father many times from the guards. Ezio gave his life to save his little Brother and Petruccio…his health was fading, yet he continued to fight for the honor of his family and for the Assassins."

"I am not brave like them." Claudia said and two more tears rolled down her cheek.

"You put your family first. You were the one who saved your Mother and Brother from Firenze on the day of the execution." Machiavelli told her. "Anyone else in your position would have crumbled and given up, but you single-handedly helped your family escape and then did whatever possible to take care of them. And now on top of everything, you avenged your Father's death by killing Uberto Alberti. But it is your decision to become an Assassin that is most commendable."

"Why do you say that?"

"You barely understand the creed, yet you have taken it upon yourself to restore your family's name even if it means you must walk on a perilous road."

"I could do anything for my Mother. Even if it means I must become an Assassin to make her happy."

"The road ahead is going to be quite challenging, Claudia." Machiavelli said. "You may have to do some things that will disrupt your conscience. It would be better for you to make sense of this and accept it."

"Time will do that for me." Claudia replied quietly and then smiled suddenly. "You must think I'm stubborn."

"Not at all." He said and smiled back. "Your questions have only reaffirmed my belief in the Assassins. Through your queries I was able to look at things differently and still decide that this is the right path that I have chosen."

He picked up his papers and put them under his arm.

"In time, you too will make sense of all this."

"Niccolo! Are you leaving?" Uncle Mario asked, entering the room. He had a white box in his hands and Claudia noticed her Father's handwriting on them.

"There's a matter that requires my immediate attention."

Uncle Mario nodded. "I was coming to tell you that La Volpe's spies have found that Vieri is coming to Venezia."

Machiavelli furrowed his brow. "Why is he coming here? Is the Spaniard..?"

"No, no." Her Uncle replied. "It's Carnivale. That brutto cane is coming here with his wife."

"Vieri rarely goes anywhere on pleasure trips. I'm certain he has a hidden agenda." Machiavelli said thoughtfully. "We must keep an eye on him."

"You're right." Her Uncle said and turned to her. "It will be your first assignment."

"Me? But.. How can I...?"

"An Assassin must also know how to obtain information. That shall be your next lesson."

"Along with blending." Machiavelli said. "Until I return, Claudia could enhance her other skills. Combat is not the only solution."

Claudia felt her mouth go dry. She could feel a storing in her stomach and she couldn't decide if she was nervous or excited at the possibility of learning new things. The minute she had heard Vieri's name, it was as if a flame had been lit inside her that was rapidly turning into an inferno. She wanted to kill him.

Vieri had murdered Petruccio and she wanted to do anything she could to avenge his death.

"So what is in that box?" Machiavelli inquired.

Uncle Mario turned to her and opened it. "It was your Father's."

Claudia looked in and saw a white hooded robe with a Florentine red sash. Beside it was a peculiar brown leather contraption.

Claudia looked up at her Uncle in surprise.

"I want you to wear it."

"Me?" Claudia asked and touched the material. "I cannot. I'm not an Assassin yet."

"These are not merely clothes, piccina. This is an heirloom."

"I don't deserve it right now." Claudia felt herself close to tears again. These were her Father's robes. He had worn them once and bravely fought for the Order.

"You deserve it rightfully." Uncle Mario said and took out the robes. "I gave them to Petruccio and he told me he would wear it the day he killed Uberto. But he couldn't and you did. For him."

Claudia took the robes from his hands. Her vision was blurring and she fought hard not to wail.

Uncle Mario put a hand on her head. "For Petruccio. Wear them. It would make me very happy."

Claudia nodded quickly and looked down at the floor so no one could see how hard she was trying to control her tears from flowing. Uncle Mario's voice had wavered when he was talking to her and she didn't know what to do if he started to weep.

"What is this?" She asked, picking up the contraption. She hoped desperately to change the subject and talk about anything else but Petruccio. His death still pained her.

"Hidden blades." Uncle Mario replied. "Unfortunately, they are broken and every blacksmith I've been to lack the skills to rebuild this again."

"Perhaps I may be of assistance."

Claudia looked up to see Leonardo da Vinci enter with her Mother.

"But you're a painter." Claudia said and blushed when Leonardo smirked at her.

"Among other things." He said and held out his hand. "May I?"

Uncle Mario handed it over to him and they watched Leonardo turning it over and over in his hands. He paused, frowned and then looked into the box. "Ah!" He exclaimed and reached into it to draw out an old parchment. He unrolled it and began reading it.

"This is eccelente! It's a manual that will tell me how to fix the blade."

"Brava!" Machiavelli said wryly. "It is indeed marvelous that you could help. And now I must take your leave."

"Let us know when you will be back." Her Uncle said.

Machiavelli nodded and came to her. "You will consider what we have discussed?"

"Of course." She replied.

He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, causing her to feel suddenly shy. When he walked away, Claudia could only wish she didn't feel so alone all of a sudden.


	18. Chapter 18

The day had just broken and already the citizens of Venezia were roaming about. But only few were heading towards work. Now that the Carnivale was about to begin, the women were queuing up to buy trinkets, masks and new dresses. Several shopkeepers were calling out to people to check out their new collection of shoes and hats and Claudia considered all of this as a surreal dream.

People were going about their daily lives and doing normal things, but she wasn't. For the first time in her life so far, she had changed her daily routine. She was roused at the early hours of daybreak and instead of being asked to do her household chores, she was dressed up in her Father's white robes and sent downstairs to train.

Her forearms ached after carrying heavy weapons and made to climb beams. She couldn't do it and had to suffer through her Uncle's dramatic sighs. He was losing patience and she could tell by the way he tapped his foot on the pavement restlessly. But he still never raised his voice at her.

"_Perhaps Rosa could assist with the climbing." _Antonio had suggested yesterday.

"_Fantastico!" Rosa had said coming in. "Sei un idiota! Where do you come up with these plans?"_

"_Rosa…what I meant was…"_

"_Chiudi la bocca!" she continued. "I'm pregnant, but si, it's a wonderful idea to climb scaffoldings, no?"_

"_No, piccolo. I was saying…"_

"_Si, si. In fact, when this baby is born, maybe you can ask him to climb beams and scaffoldings too! You are such an imbecile!"_

"_Rosa I was asking you to instruct her, not climb!" Antonio almost yelled._

_Rosa glared at him and then pouted. "Why didn't you say that before, idiota?"_

"_Where is Ugo?" Antonio sighed._

"_Hopefully getting me something to eat. I am starving here!"_

Eventually Ugo had arrived with a package of food for Rosa and after she had eaten hungrily, she had asked Ugo to demonstrate the new climbing techniques. It had been hard at first and she had to jump several times before she could reach the first beam. After that, Ugo prompted her to grab at a ledge that was further away from her reach.

"_I won't be able to!" she had said in a whine. "It's too high up!"_

"_There's a haystack below to break your fall." Uncle Mario had yelled._

_She had looked down to see a small clumsy haystack and quivered. The haystack, by no means, looked as if it would support her if she would fall. She was almost fifteen feet high and if she fell from this height, she would suffer broken bones for sure. Or die!_

"_I don't think it will." She had called back._

"_You must have faith!" Uncle Mario replied agitatedly. _

_Claudia hung on the ledge and turned her face away so that no one could see that she was on the verge of tears. "I don't want to do this." She had said softly to herself and then remembered the conversation with Machiavelli. He was younger than her and believed in the Assassin's Creed with all his heart and here she was, swayed so easily by the first obstacle that landed in her way._

_Ugo was hanging beside her as easily as a monkey would. "Do not worry." He had said gently. "If you fall, I'll grab you. My reflexes are pretty good."_

"_What are you both talking about?" Rosa screamed. _

_Claudia had bit back on a smile. She had thought of Rosa as a nagging wife who didn't really respect her husband, much less care for him. But right now, she was certain that she had heard a tinge of jealousy in her tone. _

"_Are you climbing or what?" she asked in an abrasive tone._

_Claudia had looked hesitatingly at Ugo and then leapt, only to miss the upper ledge by a whole inch. _

"….and that is how you pickpocket people." La Volpe was saying.

Claudia snapped back to attention and realized she had missed his whole lecture. "Huh?"

La Volpe didn't look dismayed, but slightly amused. "Lost in our thoughts, are we?"

Claudia felt her face getting warmer. She reached for her left forearm and massaged it gently. She had been so sure she was going to die yesterday, but Ugo hadn't lied when he told her his reflexes were reliable. The second her hand had slipped, he had grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. At that point she had been too shaken up to notice that Ugo had grabbed her arm a bit too roughly, causing a huge bruise to spread from her wrist to her forearm.

"Mi dispiace. But I don't understand why I must become a thief."

La Volpe did look annoyed now. His eyes flashed with anger and his nostrils flared. "Just a thief?"

"What La Volpe was trying to explain was that there may be times when you have to obtain important documents regarding your targets." Uncle Mario explained. "You must be self-reliant and do this by yourself. Besides, any skill is of great importance to an Assassin."

Claudia nodded but inwardly wondered if Machiavelli had gone through the same training. She couldn't imagine someone with his bearing and grace to actually steal from innocent people.

"Vieri will be visiting the Carnevale tonight." Uncle Mario said. "Your task is to find out why he's here."

Claudia felt a prick of rage. "Why not kill him?" she asked and reached for her dagger.

Uncle Mario put a hand on hers before she could even pull the dagger out of her belt. "Because killing him will get us no closer to the truth of why your family was supposed to be eliminated."

"I thought it was because of the enmity between Templars and Assassins."

Uncle Mario frowned. "We have reason to believe that the Templars may have wanted them out of the way for another reason as well. They are planning something and Vieri may be our first key that would unlock the secrets."

"Do you think I'm ready?" she asked. Her mind felt suddenly calm for some reason.

"You managed to kill Uberto in front of his men and guards." Uncle Mario replied. "Of course I think you're ready."

With a mask, hiding the upper half of her face, Claudia made her way to the Dorsoduro district. From here on, she would have to walk for quite a few minutes before she would reach the Squero di San Trovaso. This was where the Carnevale would be taking place and where her target would be present.

Her target! He wasn't Vieri di Pazzi anymore, but someone would meet his demise through her hands. She would kill him- kill him for Petruccio.

The cool evening air brushed against her skin and swayed her curls. She was dressed in a light pink dress with white lace on the cuffs and bodice. Her matching shoes were not only fancy, but comfortable enough to make a hasty exit if she came to trouble. She glanced around upwards and spotted a group of four thieves huddling on the rooftop, deep in discussion. As she stepped towards the square, they noticed her and gave her a brief nod.

Her Uncle had promised that he wouldn't let anything happen to her and La Volpe had suggested they use his thieves to create a distraction. It was a simple mission. She had to get inside and blend with the partygoers. While blending with them, she would have to keep an eye out for Vieri and when she did, she had to gather as much information as she could about the nature of his visit to Venezia.

It was a simple mission and she was reminded about it over and over again by her Uncle, but why did she feel like her stomach was in knots?

"I can do this!" she muttered to herself and then told herself that Machiavelli had probably done this too. He was an Assassin far longer than she was and he must have already done all this years ago. Claudia chided herself. How old had Machiavelli been when he started on this path?

"Scusa." A man spoke gruffly and Claudia realized that she had almost pushed him off the small bridge and into the canals.

"Mi dispiace!" she said and moved away quickly. Be inconspicuous, she scolded herself. She adjusted her mask and stepped into the square and then immediately wanted to run away.

The music was too loud, the people around her were talking too loudly and a jester had almost fallen on her as he performed a clumsy cartwheel. She looked towards the thieves who were now talking amongst themselves.

Perhaps she should signal to them and ask them to take over. She couldn't do this! Her Uncle said that she could ask the thieves to do this should something go wrong. She turned on her heels and then stopped herself so abruptly that she almost fell on the woman behind her.

"Pazzo!" she said spitefully.

Claudia made her way to the stall that was selling masks and picked one up. She didn't want to buy any of course, but this gave her a little time to blend in and clear her mind. The alternative of her having a panic attack in front of all these people was far worse to even comprehend.

She breathed deeply and instantly smelled roses. There were roses somewhere around her. This calmed her down. She focused on the sweet scent and then remembered how Machiavelli had assured her that she was a brave woman and had helped her family escape from Firenze.

Claudia smiled to herself. Yes, she had done that. She was brave, only she didn't know it. Machiavelli wouldn't lie to her. She put down the mask and took a deep breath. She could do this….

"Ciao bella donna." A man said.

Claudia turned around to face a man only two inches taller than her and peering at her through a black feathered mask. He was dressed in a purple shirt and brown pants.

"Care to join me?" he drawled.

Claudia started to walk away from him when he stretched his arm and blocked her way. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

His voice was lazy and taunting and somehow vaguely familiar. Claudia looked at him, but couldn't recognize him. He put a hand under her elbow and Claudia felt her skin erupt in goose bumps. She had felt this touch before too.

"I have to go." She mumbled, suddenly nervous.

"And where do you have to go, Claudia Auditore?"

Claudia gasped. Now she knew who he was and why his voice and touch felt familiar. She had known him in Firenze a long time ago. She had hoped they would never cross paths again and now after all these years he had recognized her and she was caught!


	19. Chapter 19

"How did you recognize me?" she asked. Claudia turned to look at the thieves and wondered if she should signal them.

"I've seen you in Firenze." Duccio replied. "I keep an eye on every beautiful girl that walks into Firenze. I almost didn't recognize you, and then I saw you go into the Auditore Villa and made the connection."

"I'm surprised you actually have the intelligence to put that altogether." Claudia said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. He had seen her in Firenze which meant he had also seen her kill Uberto. What if he was a spy...or a Templar?

"So quiet." Duccio said and led her towards the dance floor. "When you were younger, you wouldn't stop talking. I had to kiss you to stop you from eating my ear off."

Claudia put her hand on his shoulder and started to sway to the music. She had to act natural until she could think of her next steps. But the minute his hand touched hers, she found herself sinking into the memory when she had only been fifteen and engaged to him. She had loved him, or thought she had, and had spent her days daydreaming about the days when she would become his wife.

She had her whole life planned out with him in her imagination. It was supposed to be perfect and comfortable, but all that had been shattered when she had heard her friends talking about seeing him with another woman. Her heart had broken then and she still vividly remembered the hurt she had felt then. It was as if someone had snatched her breath away and replaced her heart with a hot burning stone that refused to stop aching.

It did stop hurting though. That was the day Ezio had beaten up Duccio in front of everyone. She hadn't felt the slightest bit of disappointment or hurt. Instead, she had realized that she had never truly loved him. If she had, she would have felt some remorse for having him beaten up.

"Why didn't you approach me then?" she asked.

Duccio removed his mask and she saw the same lazy green eyes she had once thought were charismatic. He seemed too sure himself and it made her want to push him to the ground and wipe the smugness off his face.

"My friends and I had already made plans to travel to Venezia and attend the Carnivale." He replied and then pulled her closer to him.

Claudia wanted to pull away, but she found herself instead submerged in the feelings she had for him from ten years ago. She had wanted to marry him and she had found his touch to be familiar, and now all these feelings were overwhelming her again.

No, it had to be something else. These feelings she had were probably the result of the lovely piece of music being played. It had to be the sweet scent of flowers hung around the poles. Perhaps it had to be all of those things that were making her giddy with unwanted feelings.

Duccio twirled her around then and she felt her breath being taken away. He pulled her closer into his arms again and smiled charmingly. "I hated not to have met you then, but I had made a commitment to my friends."

Claudia stared at him and then burst out laughing. Those feelings instantly vanished when he had used the word 'commitment'.

"You sure know a lot about making commitments." She laughed. "You were engaged to me once. Don't you remember how that ended?"

Duccio scowled and looked like a little boy who wanted nothing better than to throw a tantrum. "I made one little mistake."

Claudia found herself unable to laugh. It probably had to do with the relief that she wasn't in love with Duccio. "Tell me, then. Did you follow a woman here, who didn't want anything to do?"

"That's not…true." His face started to get redder and Claudia stopped dancing.

"You haven't changed a bit, Duccio. I had mistakenly believed that you were a reformed man."

The music stopped and Claudia turned away from him and started walking away when Duccio grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. "Perhaps I have changed Claudia Auditore."

He pulled down her mask and brushed a curl from her forehead. "People learn from their mistakes and change. It took losing you to make me realize what I had."

Claudia stopped laughing and held her breath. In the months she had spent with Duccio when she had been engaged to him, she had never seen him looking so earnest. Was he telling her the truth?

"I have missed you every single day of my life." He continued.

"I saw you in Firenze." She said hazily. "I heard you talking about how I was just one of your conquests."

Duccio's expression didn't falter. He kept gazing at her lovingly that made her heart quicken its beat.

"I didn't mean a word. My friends are idiotic and I was merely amusing them." Duccio said.

The music started playing again, yet Claudia found herself unable to move. "I don't believe you." She said breathlessly.

Duccio smiled at her that made her want to melt. "A chance is all I ask."

Overhead, she could hear the fireworks going off and the delighted cries of the people around her, but this was all lost on her. Duccio didn't look away from her and she was trapped by his longing gaze. She was still in his arms and she found herself unable to pull away from him.

The nagging voice that kept asking her what she was doing was drowned by the sounds of the fireworks above her. All she could think of how easy it would be to give Duccio another chance. Maybe he would even ask her to marry her and she would. Her Mother would be happy that she was settling down. Petruccio wanted this for her too. They could finally create the feathered white dress for her wedding and she could go back to being just a normal girl with a daily routine of household chores.

Yes, everything would be normal for her again. Duccio bent his head down to kiss her and Claudia closed her eyes. Everything was going to be fine now.

"Fantastico!" she heard a man's voice call.

Her eyes snapped open. That voice! She had heard that before too. She turned away from Duccio and stood on her toes to look above the crowd. So many faces- so many unfamiliar faces, but that voice only belonged to one.

She uttered a gasp when she saw Vieri di Pazzi walk into the square and clapping his hands. The fireworks, the cheers from the crowd and even Duccio, instantly faded away. She could see him- only him.

Vieri was dressed in royal blue attire and still looked like the pig-nosed man from ten years ago. This was the man who had murdered her little brother. She instinctively reached for her dagger and then realized that her Uncle had asked her to leave it behind. Perhaps he had sensed she would act in impulsive haste.

Taking a few deep breaths, she pushed through the crowds, praying that Vieri wouldn't notice her. At this point, she didn't bother about concealing herself. She just wanted to get close enough, get some information out of him and head back so that she and her Uncle could plot his death.

"Claudia!" Duccio called, but she ignored him. She would think about her feelings later. Right now, she had to get closer.

She pushed her way through the swarming crowds that were gathering to watch the fireworks and finally found an empty space near the well. She walked over in slow steps and calculated that she was about six feet behind him.

Vieri was speaking to one of his lackeys and then guffawing.

"Vieri!" a stout man called. He was dressed in a red hooded cloak and deep green clothes. He was closely followed by a tall man with a stoic glare.

"Ah! Silvio and Dante!" Vieri spoke out loud. Claudia sat down on one of the nearby benches and kept her head bowed. From this point she could hear the men talking loud and clear.

"You have arrived in due time. The Spaniard will be pleased." The red cloaked man spoke.

"Si, Silvio. How could I decline an invitation from him."

Claudia immediately made a mental note of the man's name. So her Uncle had been right. Vieri hadn't come her for the Carnivale. But who was this Spaniard?

"You've brought your wife with you?" Silvio asked.

Vieri put out his hand and Claudia saw a woman walk towards him. She had dark hair and was dressed in a white lacy dress. She was taller than Vieri and graceful. When she came closer, Claudia felt her heart miss a beat.

"Oh no." she gasped. "No, no!"


	20. Chapter 20

Claudia turned away, before she drew more attention to herself. A woman beside her had looked on at her with concern and was nudging her husband to look at her.

She got up quickly and headed towards the exit. She couldn't stand to be here anymore.

"Claudia! Hey!" she heard Duccio call, but ignored his cries. She had to get away from here, before she broke down completely.

The wind was getting colder and she caught her breath when it brushed against her. She started to run then. She didn't know why, but she just had to.

The heaviness in her heart had begun a dull ache in her chest and proceeded down to her stomach. She stopped near the canals where the gondolas were docked and bent over. Her breath heaved and her stomach churned, but as she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, there were no contents in her stomach to hurl.

"Signorina, are you feeling okay?" a guard asked.

Claudia clutched at her stomach as her mind was suddenly alerted to the fact that if she didn't get away from the guard soon, he would ask her questions which she wouldn't be able to answer.

"I am…just tired and resting." She lied. She kept her head bent when she realized that she had dropped her mask when she had been running.

"Why don't I walk you home?" The guard's tone was a bit of slur. When he stepped closer, she could smell wine.

Claudia got up quickly. "My husband is waiting for me." She started to walk quickly then, realizing that she did want to vomit now. She couldn't breathe and her hands were numb.

She walked on the docks as it curled around the buildings and then stopped. There was no one here. No guards nearby or following her, no people on the gondolas and definitely no people from her past popping up to torment her with memories she wanted to forget.

She took a few breaths to calm herself down and then burst out crying. She fell on the dock and cried until her heart stopped aching from the heaviness.

It wasn't fair! This wasn't what was supposed to happen. They were all supposed to live normal lives in Firenze. Her Father was supposed to be a successful banker, Federico was supposed to join the business, Ezio was supposed to marry Cristina, Petruccio was supposed to get healthier and she was supposed to get married to Duccio.

But everything was ruined. Her Father was an Assassin and he died for it, Federico never got a chance to fall in love or take over the business, Petruccio died because he never got healthier, she never got married and Ezio…

Claudia wanted to scream then. Ezio was fortunate never to have married Cristina. How could she do this?

In Firenze, she had always believed that Ezio loved Cristina as much as she loved him. They were soul mates and she fit so perfectly into their family. Everyone loved her and they were almost about to be married which was why she had thought of Cristina more as a sister-in-law than her neighbor.

She had always thought of Cristina as someone who was loyal, but tonight, the last good memory she had of her life in Firenze was shattered. Cristina knew that Ezio hated Vieri, so how could she, of all the people, marry him?

In her mind she continued to see Vieri talking boisterously and then all of a sudden, Cristina walked in and he had watched her lovingly. He had then snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

_And what was Cristina doing?_ Her mind continued to taunt her until she recalled the way Cristina had smiled at her husband and then let Vieri peck her on the cheek.

The tears rolled down freely now and she tried hard to clamp down on the scream she wanted to utter. There was no one around her. The Carnivale was long over and the people had gone back to their homes to sleep. But tonight, she wouldn't sleep. She was cursed to never be able to close her eyes without seeing the people from her past betraying her.

She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them, gazing at the gentle waves before her. There was a numbness spreading inside her and she was finally glad that she had stopped crying.

She must have sat there for hours, because when she next gazed up the sky, it was turning into fiery gold hue. She blinked, feeling the dampness of her own lashes on her upper cheek. Above her, she could hear a woman waking up her children for breakfast and Claudia suddenly realized that her Mother must be worried about her.

She intended to get up then, but found no energy to do so. Just a few more minutes, she promised herself. For a little more time, she would allow herself to wallow in her sorrows before putting up a façade for her Mother.

"Claudia?"

She straightened her legs and turned to see Machiavelli coming towards her. His stride was fast and his face was contorted in annoyance. His eyes were dark with ire and his mouth pressed, as if he was trying futilely to control his temper.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a raspy voice. Her throat had gone dry and felt itchy after staying in the cold for so long.

"What do you think? Looking for you!" Machiavelli stopped by her and held out his hand.

Claudia looked at it and couldn't bring herself to let him help her get up. She didn't want to yet. It felt nice to be here where no one was, except for a small house above her where the Mother was still trying to awake her children. No one was bothering her here and no one was asking for second chances that she was unbelievably actually considering giving.

"Are you crying?" His voice did soften then.

Claudia looked down at the gentle ripples on the water surface. She didn't want to talk- not to him and not to anyone else.

"Are you hurt? Did anyone hurt you?" He seemed alarmed and Claudia decided that she would have to talk to him.

"No one did anything." Her voice sounded numb to her ears. _Except break my heart._

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you here? Weren't you travelling to Firenze?"

Machiavelli heaved a sigh and then lowered himself on the dock beside her. "I should have known better than to make travel plans during Carnivale. There were barely any carriages exiting Venezia. My plans have been postponed, I'm afraid."

"That is unfortunate." She replied, watching the sun rise up to illuminate the sky.

"Are you going to tell me why you're hiding out here and looking as if you've been crying?" Machiavelli asked. "You had us all worried. The thieves have been on the lookout for you for hours now."

Claudia leaned her head back on the wall, still not wanting to look at him for fear that he may read her mind. She had talked to him on previous occasions and she did trust him to keep her secrets and even help her, but this was something that was completely breaking her.

The memory flashed before her again, followed by a malicious thought that it was better that Ezio had died before he knew betrayal. If he had married Cristina and later found out that she was only using him, he would have been devastated.

"No." she replied simply. "I do not care to talk about it."

"I can help you."

She smiled and felt her tears pricking her eyes. She blinked them back furiously. "I know, but I would sincerely never want to even think about it much less talk about it."

"Bene. And you are sure no one hurt you?"

"Not physically."

"If you are fine, then we could go back and I could train you some more."

Claudia took a deep breath, taking in the sweet fragrance of flowers and the wood beneath her. "In a little while."


	21. Chapter 21

Her eyes still felt heavy after the tears she had shed the night before. Her face felt swollen and her skin felt oddly tingly in the warmth of the sun. Coupled with the fact that she hadn't mustered the appetite to eat a proper breakfast, she quickly realized that it probably wasn't a good idea to stand on top of a roof at a height of almost twenty feet.

She glanced sideways at Machiavelli who was talking to a thief and handing him an envelope. His voice was in a whisper and she couldn't decide whether to be irked that he didn't trust her with his secrets or to be glad that he didn't involve her, considering she had been so upset last night.

The memory brought in a dull pain and she pushed it away in her mind until it had decreased into a small cube and then she imagined it shattering until all that remained was dust. She had to be able to deal with this all on her own. This was too personal to announce to the whole world that the Auditores were unlucky in love and forever cursed to live in disillusionment.

The thief took the envelope and slipped it into his pocket, whispered something intended only for Machiavelli's ears and then sprinted off.

He finally turned to her and didn't speak for several minutes. She started to look away and then changed her mind. She would deal with her inner turmoil by putting up a tough front and pretending to be resilient even though deep inside she felt anything but. She met his sturdy gaze with one of her own until Machiavelli was the first to speak.

"You are absolutely certain you do not want to speak of whatever transpired last night?"

"Si."

"You do not trust me anymore?" he inquired.

"No." she said quickly. "I trust you completely. However, I am entitled to hold a few secrets until I feel the need to disclose them. Am I not?"

"Certamente, Claudia. I am just concerned, that is all. I thought since we were friends, you may want to lighten whatever burden you are holding in your heart."

"Friends?" she asked.

Machiavelli grinned then, and Claudia instantly saw him transform into a young boy who in his age should be courting women and indulging himself with amusements rather than giving up everything and fighting for the people.

"Si, Claudia Auditore. Even though you've…er…struck me on several occasions, I would like to believe that we have moved past all that and become friends."

Claudia bit her lip when she felt her skin on her face get hotter. "I did apologize for that."

"And I have lost count of how many times you have."

"You're teasing me." She grinned back.

"Certainly not. And now, we must get back to our lesson."

"What are you going to teach me? I was under the impression that I was already being taught everything I needed to know."

"There are still quite a few things that you could learn and benefit from." Machiavelli had turned back into the man she had met the very first time. She could see the sincerity on his face as he proceeded to explain how Assassins could benefit from a variety of skills taught. "Some skills are taught, while I've encountered many Assassins who reach further into themselves and discover their inborn talents."

Claudia watched an eagle glide above her and wondered what her special talent could be. What had been her Father's? And did Petruccio have one.

"It will come to you, Claudia." Machiavelli said. "For now, I gather that La Volpe has been teaching you how to pickpocket. Has he taught you to race too?"

"Why would I want to race?"

"To escape from your enemies."

"Why would I want to run away from them?" In her mind she saw Vieri and Cristina looking like a happily married couple. Her anger boiled into a bitter liquid and rose up her throat. "I would rather slay them with my blade than run away."

"That is tough talk." Machiavelli said. "But circumstances don't always work in one's favor. You may have to make a hasty exit and live to fight another day than be killed on the spot." 

"So who do I have to race?" Claudia asked. "You? Or a thief?"

"Yourself."

"What?"

Machiavelli folded his hands behind him. "Even though your reluctance to talk about last night is evident, I need you to have a clear head before you are initiated formally into the Order." He walked on the roof tiles and stood before. "I want you to run from yourself- from the old you to the new one. I want you to run from whatever bothers you and be free."

"I don't…."

"It is necessary, Claudia. If it weren't, I would have never suggested it. From this exercise, not only will you learn a new skill, but also free yourself from your demons. It will be revitalizing." He said.

Claudia didn't need to be told again. Without giving herself a chance to think, she ran. Her legs moved fast over the roof tiles and she enjoyed the sound her feet made when it came into contact with them.

Clink!clink! Clink!

She didn't know how far she had to run and if she was just supposed to circle the roof, so she just ran.

Her breath started to feel heavier and even though she had pushed her thoughts away, they started to fog all around her.

She saw Vieri sneering at Petruccio before plunging a knife into him. She saw Cristina making promises to live Ezio forever only to break his heart the next minute.

In the next she saw herself standing before Vieri, getting ready to attack only to realize that she had no idea how to fight him off because she had never taken her training seriously so far.

In her imagination, Vieri had her pinned down by his brutes and she saw Cristina enter through a wall.

"Let me." She asked her husband and Vieri immediately complied.

"Hey!" She heard a cry.

Claudia snapped herself back to reality and saw that she was nearing a rooftop with a guard on it.

He removed his bow and started to poise. "Get down!" He warned.

She willed her feet to stop, but they were being controlled by the one part of her mind that told her that the guard took orders from the Templars and that also meant from the Pazzis too. She didn't try to rationalize this thought. Everyone was her enemy. All the Templars were her enemy. Even Cristina...the woman she had once thought of as her friend.

"Get down now!" The guard screamed.

Claudia quickened her pace and jumped across to the roof where he stood. The guard started to remove his sword, but Claudia was faster. Her hand plucked out her dagger from the belt and plunged it in his stomach.

The guard opened his mouth t scream and she quickly clamped her free hand on his mouth.

She bent her knees and let the guard fall gently, feeling his muffled cries against her hand.

"Claudia." She heard Machiavelli say behind her.

"I...had to..." She watched the guard's eyes flutter close. She no longer felt remorse for her kill but the liberating sensation that she had done what was supposed to.

Machiavelli came to her and knelt down beside her. "I believe we didn't have much of a choice. He would have alerted the guards to our presence."

Claudia let out a breath. "Now what?"

"We make an escape before his body is found. Vieni con me."

He led her to the edge of the roof. "Let us..."

"Jump? No!" Claudia cried out. "We are at such a height!"

"You haven't performed the leap of faith yet?"

"Why is it even called that?"

"Because you must have faith that you can do it."

"I have faith that I will break every bone in my body!" Claudia argued. "There's a ladder on the side. Let us take that instead."

"Claudia!" Machiavelli scolded. "Do you see that guard on the adjoining roof?"

She turned to see a guard turn around and walk towards them. In a matter of minutes, they were about to be found with a body beside them.

"We can take him too."

"How many guards do you intend to kill today?"

"The alternative is extremely dangerous."

"You must have faith."

Claudia shook her head. "No I could get hurt."

She saw Machiavelli grit his teeth and mutter something incomprehensible. "Claudia, the guard is approaching. He is signaling to another guard. We don't have much time."

"I won't!"

"Bene. Do you trust me?"

"Of course!"

"Then trust me! It is fine if you don't trust anything else at the moment. But if you truly trust me, and you know it in your heart that I would never let anything hurt you, then jump. Take the leap, Claudia. Trust me."

His words did something that she never expected. In an instant, all her doubts vanished and she moved to the very edge of the roof. The rational part of her brain started to open her mouth, but before she could, Claudia let go herself and fell.

The wind rushed against her face and she closed her eyes, savoring the brief moment of complete and ultimate freedom, before Machiavelli's yell shattered through her.

"Turn Claudia! Flip so you are on your back!"

Claudia snapped her eyes open and suddenly did what she thought was impossible- she flipped in midair and then landed on the haystack. She felt her stomach flip inside her and her breath was taken away. She blinked, staring at the sky and taking note that none of her bones had broken.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

She turned sideways to look at him. "How did you get here so fast?"

Machiavelli broke into a mischievous grin. "I took the ladder."

Claudia felt laughter bubbling inside her and she opened her mouth and let it free.

*/*/*/*/*

"Ah! You have arrived." Leonardo greeted her as she walked into the thieves' hideout.

"I did not know I was being expected." Claudia replied.

Leonardo clasped his hands and looked at her with unconcealed glee. "I have a surprise for you!"

"Oh?"

Machiavelli entered behind and seemed as curious as she was.

"I have fixed it!" Leonardo exclaimed and brought out the hidden blades from behind his back.

Claudia smiled at his enthusiasm, but didn't know what use she could possibly have with a vambrace that had a blade concealed within it.

Leonardo came to her and strapped it around her wrist. "Try it!" he looked as excited as a little child with a wrapped present.

Claudia raised her arm and almost jumped when the blade shot out. "Oh! I almost cut off my finger!"

"No you wouldn't have." Leonardo chided. "The design wouldn't have hurt you. The creator was careful about that."

"Grazie." Claudia said. "This will aid me a great deal."

"Si, especially since you've perfected the sneaking around." Machiavelli teased.

Claudia raised an eyebrow at him. "I have no idea what you mean."

"I was referring to your disappearance after the Carnivale. The thieves were unable to locate you."

Claudia smiled and then looked back at the hidden blade. "Am I ready?"

Machiavelli's tone grew serious. "I sincerely think you are."

"Then who is my first target?"

Uncle Mario entered from the front door with a stack of parchments under his arm. "Vieri di Pazzi." He replied.

Claudia smiled at Machiavelli. "I am ready for this."


	22. Chapter 22

Two days ago, Machiavelli had finally left for Firenze amidst the rush brought on by the ongoing Carnivale. She should have asked him to stay; to convince him that she needed his help throughout this journey, but then he would have asked her why she had run away from the Carnivale that night.

And how would she answer then? How could she tell him, that a part of her was still stuck in the past, unable to free herself from her own ghosts? She had tried so hard to move on and to accept her destiny as an Assassin. She wanted this now and not because her Mother expected it of her but because she really did want to kill the Templars who had wronged her family.

And then she had danced with the man she had been engaged to all those years ago and suddenly she was thrown back to the time when she had imagined a whole life with him. Her Mother wanted to see her married someday and Petruccio had wanted that too so Duccio asking for another chance was only befuddling her further.

Claudia looked up at the dummy placed on the balcony and then looked down at her vambraces. The hidden blade sprung out and she gazed back at the dummy. Leonardo had set up dummies all around her for practice, but so far she had been fumbling and failing at every turn.

"You can do this." Leonardo said from behind his desk. He was bent over the table and studying the codex pages the other Assassins had acquired so far.

Claudia didn't believe him. She wished Machiavelli was here so that she could talk to him and put all her confusions to rest. What did he want to do in Firenze anyway? Did he have family there? Or maybe a wife?

Claudia slashed at the dummy hard and it slit open, scattering straw everywhere. She stepped back as the straw fell on her feet.

"That was magnifico!" Leonardo exclaimed. "Whatever emotion you used right now, use it to inspire you."

Claudia drew back her blade and avoided looking at Leonardo. Emotion? She had only been wondering if Machiavelli had family or a wife. Nothing else. Then why did something feel so….wrong?

"How about you try assassinating from a hidden spot?" Leonardo suggested. He raised one of the codex pages and brought it closer to his nose. "There are diagrams on this to show you just how you can accomplish that."

Claudia frowned. As it is her training was tough, and on top of that her Uncle had been away on an errand and Machiavelli had gone to Firenze. That left Leonardo volunteering to help her, but she was finding him tiring. All she wanted to do was go into her room, lie down in her bed and be alone with her thoughts.

"Would you like to take a look?"

Claudia adjusted her vambraces and nodded reluctantly. She dragged herself to his side and studied the diagrams on the pages.

"So do you see this?" Leonardo said. "You lay in wait here and when your enemy passes by, jump on him and kill him with your blade, all the while dragging him inside with you."

"And what if the enemy weighs more than me?"

Leonardo snickered. "It seems most of them will be. But if you study this closely, you'll notice that Altair was actually portraying using the momentum to pull him inside."

Altair- she had heard that name again. Where had she before? And that's when she remembered the night she had come to Venezia. Her Uncle had mentioned him along with the search for seals that Altair had hidden that would unlock his armor.

"I shall try then." Claudia said.

"Un momento." Leonardo said. "A dummy perhaps may not be the most suitable for this exercise. How about I indulge you and take place of your dummy?"

"You'll help me?" Claudia asked in surprise.

"You look like you could use a bit of assistance."

Claudia bit her lip hard. And here she thought that Leonardo was only interfering in her life when he had only been trying to sincerely help her. What had gotten into her to not realize the difference between people wanting to help her and the people who had hurt her in the past and wanting second chances?

"If you are absolutely sure….?"

"I am." Leonardo led her towards a cart filled with hay. "You know what to do?"

Claudia nodded. "Si. I make sure you have your back turned around and jump into the hay. Then stab you and pull you inside."

"Except you don't have to really stab me. I do need to remain intact in order to decipher the codex pages and do my art."

Claudia laughed. "I promise I won't hurt you."

And later, when she went back home, she was glad she had made forgotten all her worries, focused on her training and made a new friend in the process.

*/*/*/*/*/*

Vieri di Pazzi was a rowdy man who nevertheless had extravagant tastes. So it was no surprise that he had chosen the very best of inns to stay in while the Carnivale was going on. The thieves had immediately informed her of his whereabouts and she had begun planning.

The one thing her Uncle kept reminding her was how unpredictable Vieri was.

"_Vieri di Pazzi is a lot of things and most of them a complete Bastardo!" Her Uncle had told her vehemently. "But he is a good commander to his army. He anticipates our every move, so you may have to think long and hard as to how exactly you're going to end that pezzo di merda."_

Claudia had taken those words seriously. She couldn't afford to make a mistake and she definitely couldn't afford to let herself die and let him live. He had to die and she wanted to be the one to end his miserable life.

She looked up at the inn and noticed the windows open on the third floor. That was where Vieri was supposedly residing.

Claudia put on a purple mask over her eyes and adjusted her dress. As much as she liked her Assassin robes, she missed dressing up and going to parties. So even though she had an important mission on hand, she had loved making up her hair and holding it up with small white clips. She also took her time picking out a purple dress and stitching silver lace onto the cuffs. Her shoes matched the dress and so did her small purse.

Anyone glancing at her wouldn't see her as an Assassin, but a woman dressed up to go to the Carnivale. She held up her head high and walked into the inn, preparing herself to be greeted by Templars instead of the proprietor of this establishment.

"May I help you, signorina?" A man asked from behind the desk. He was attired in blue silk robes and had a thin moustache.

"I am a friend of Cristina Vesp…ahem….di Pazzi." She said and hoped the man hadn't noticed her slipup. She remembered how La Volpe had once advised her to look straight into a person's eyes to avoid being caught if she ever made a mistake.

"Scusami?" the man asked.

Claudia stared into the man's eyes. "I wish to see my friend Crsitina. I was told she was staying here."

The man scratched his cheek and looked down at the ledger on his desk. "They have taken up residence on the third floor. But they have asked specifically to not be disturbed."

Claudia gave him a slight smile. "I am certain that the minute my friend learns how rudely I was treated, she would have you dismissed from your job."

The man looked nervously towards the door and then back at her as if wondering if he should have better stayed at home today rather than make a complex decision as to follow his previous orders or allow her in. "I shall let them know you're here." He started to walk around his desk when Claudia stopped him by raising her hand.

Perhaps she should have just slipped by incognito, but she couldn't risk being caught by the guards here and having her plans ruined before they had even begun.

"It is a surprise." She said. "I have come all the way from Firenze to wish her and I would be most disappointed if my plans are ruined."

"Very well then." The man looked in a hurry to dismiss her. "You may take the stairs. Their room is on the right when you reach the third floor."

Claudia smiled at him and put a hand on her mask, relieved that he had made a careless error by not asking her name. "Grazie." She walked over to the stairs and put her hands on the banister. Taking one look around to make sure no one had suspected her yet, she started to climb the stairs, one by one.

Every step that she took filled her with a raw emotion that was scratching at her conscience. She had an incomplete plan, but that was the way she wanted it to be. Not thinking about her plan fully, made her feel that she may have an advantage over her adversary. She felt that if she had made a plan, Vieri may read her mind and guess it. So, no. She would make no plans and work on impulse.

She loosened the buttons of her right cuff so that she her hidden blades could be more accessible. Her breath caught in her throat when she crossed the first floor. This would be it. She had to be sure of what she was doing.

In her mind, she imagined knocking on Vieri's door and having him open it. He would consider her with his beady eyes and start asking her who she was. But she wouldn't give him a chance. She would slide her blades out and stab him in the neck.

That was but one possibility. In the next, the door could be opened by his friends or even his guards. But still she wouldn't think. Her plan was impulsive and if her Uncle ever found out that she had never had a plan, he would be so cross with her. Claudia smiled to herself. If she survived tonight, that is, then her Uncle could be angry with her.

She crossed the second floor and came up to the third floor. She turned right and saw the wide wooden door before her. This was where Vieri was living. What she was about to do could either be easy or fatal…for her as well.

She raised up her knuckles and knocked on the door.

Claudia looked down at her right wrist when she heard footsteps from behind the door. Unfortunately, there was no way of knowing if they belonged to Vieri or not.

Then another thought entered her mind. Vieri probably didn't even know her much less recognize her. In Firenze, his fight had been with Ezio and he had kept it to that. Vieri didn't know what she looked like so there was no need for her to hide behind a mask.

In addition to that, Claudia realized that she did want Vieri to see her face when she killed him. When he would be lying on the ground and dying, she would want him to know who had killed him.

She pulled off her mask, just as the door open and then stifled on her gasp.

"Si, may I help you?" Cristina asked, narrowing her gaze.

She was dressed in a white lacy dress and had put up a silver clip on the side of her head. Cristina looked all dressed up to go to the Carnivale, so why wasn't she there?

Claudia cursed herself for not thinking this through and letting this important piece slip away from her. She shook herself quickly from these thoughts. Cristina was a Templar and therefore, part of the conspiracy against her family. What right did she have to live?

Cristina raised an eyebrow at her and then let her eyes scan over her from top to bottom. She stopped at her eyes and then opened her mouth.

"Oh." She whispered. Her lips were trembling and her hands were shaking. "Oh dear!"

Claudia stepped back, watching as realization was emerging on Cristina's face.

"You're….you're…but I thought?"

"That I was dead?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Cristina stared at her in wonder then suddenly caught her wrist and pulled her in. She closed the door behind her and put a finger to her lips.

Claudia looked down at her blades. Cristina was close to her. All she had to do was raise her arm and stab her. She started to do exactly that when Cristina led her away from the door and towards the window.

"Claudia. Claudia Auditore, vero?"

Claudia glared at her, unable to bring herself to answer.

"Ezio's..little sister?"

"You haven't forgotten." Claudia replied, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice.

"I recognized by your eyes. Your brother and you had the same." Cristina said. "But what are you doing here?"

"You know very well why I am here." Claudia said. "I have come here to kill Vieri di Pazzi, your husband."

Cristina stared at her, dumbstruck for a moment, before a smile spread over her lips. "Then let me help you." She said.


	23. Chapter 23

Claudia looked on, unblinkingly, as Cristina dismissed her maids and asked them to leave her alone. She pressed herself against the wall when they walked out, hoping they wouldn't notice a woman clad in white robes, lurking in the shadows.

"Entrare." Cristina told her and Claudia stepped in carefully.

Cristina closed the door behind her and then walked towards the windows to close the curtains, while Claudia could do nothing but be pushed back into the memories of her childhood in Firenze.

The woman before her, and her Brother's lover, still looked the same, carried herself with the same grace and had the same softness in her eyes that had beguiled Ezio in the first place. She didn't seem any different to her, except that now she was Vieri's wife.

Claudia felt for her dagger, as she was jostled back to reality. The woman standing in front of her wasn't the Cristina she had known all those years ago but an enemy who had possibly invited her in only to ensnare her.

"You have no need to be frightened." Cristina spoke, presumably reading her mind.

Claudia gave a short laugh. "I am not scared of you Cristina." She said bitterly. "Nor am I scared of your husband. Where is he?"

Cristina looked away for a moment as if gathering her thoughts. "Vieri di Pazzi is a powerful man, You simply cannot expect that you could just walk in and kill him. His death must be planned beforehand if you and the Assassins want the upper hand."

Claudia sucked in a breath. Cristina was aware of the Assassins? "Oh, and I am to believe that you would help me kill your own husband?"

"Ha!" Cristina scoffed. "That man is not my husband. He did not marry me but acquire me." Claudia saw her eyes glistening. "After Ezio died, Vieri….he spread slanderous rumors about me, implying that I had been engaging in several affairs. He blackmailed my Father until he had no choice but to surrender to his demands and get me married to that filthy creature."

"Why did you not run away?"

Cristina's lips trembled and she put her hand on them. "Vieri was rather persistent. I was to be engaged to another man, but Vieri had him murdered. I confronted him about it and he threatened to kill my family if I breathed a word about it. He repeated that he wanted to marry me."

Claudia suddenly felt ashamed of her thoughts. She couldn't believe she had been so wrong about Cristina. "I am so sorry to hear of your plight."

Cristina gave her half a smile. "I can understand that you do not trust me, Claudia."

"But I do…"

"Not at first and that was fine. It was written all over your face."

"I do now." Claudia said.

Cristina nodded sadly. "I am glad of it." She embraced her then and Claudia put her arms around her. She felt Cristina flinch suddenly and she pulled back.

"What is the matter?"

Cristina casted her eyes down and then taking a deep breath, pulled away her sleeve to reveal dark bruises on her arms.

Claudia's mouth dropped open as her eyes travelled all the way over her wrist up to her elbow, taking in the large bruises that were turning a sickly green. "He hurt you?"

"Ever since we got married." Cristina said. "He didn't love me nor wanted a wife. All he wanted was a snatched toy. There are more on my back as well."

"That monster!" Claudia exclaimed. "You mustn't stay with him. Come with me right away and…"

"No, Claudia. We must play this right or Vieri would kill us both." Cristina said. "Vieri has too much power now and he is too shrewd."

"There must be a weakness. Everyone has one." Claudia said.

"I have been looking for one since more than ten years, Claudia. If there is one, I did not see it yet."

Claudia bit her lip thoughtfully. What Cristina was saying was true. She couldn't spring an attack on Vieri on an impulse. Petruccio had planned an attack and look what had happened to him. No, this time Vieri had to die. He had to pay, for all his treachery, with his life.

"We must find out."

Cristina nodded thoughtfully. "I have an idea. Although we may require a bit of help."

"From whom?"

"A family friend from Firenze is visiting Venezia. He's a really talented man, you must have heard of him." Cristina said.

The second she had heard the word 'talented', Claudia immediately realized who she was talking about. "Are you talking about…?"

"Leonardo da Vinci." Cristina affirmed.

"I do not think it's wise to endanger his life." Claudia said. "Leonardo doesn't deserve to be dragged into all this."

Cristina walked over to the door to Leonardo's door and raised her hand to knock. "He shall come to no harm. I promise you." She knocked thrice and pushed open the door.

"Ah! Who do I have the pleasure to meet?" Leonardo said, stepping away from his table. Claudia peeked in to see yellowed pages scattered on his work table. She quickly recognized them as the codex pages. She glanced sideways at Cristina and wondered how she should tell her that Leonardo's safety was of vital importance to the Assassins as well. The artist was the only one who could decipher those parchments.

"Cristina Vespucci." She introduced herself. Claudia noticed that her companion hadn't used her married name. "You must remember me."

Leonardo scratched his head. "Er…"

Cristina simply smiled and stepped in confidently. "My Father commissioned a piece of artwork from you. I believe it was a portrait for a scholar. I apologize for not remembering the exact nature of this assignment."

Claudia stepped in. "Leonardo, this is my friend from Firenze. She was engaged to Ezio. After his…demise…she was coerced into marrying Vieri but she has offered her help to kill him." She said, without pausing for breath.

Leonardo looked taken aback when she said Vieri's name, but then composed himself quickly. "And how exactly does she intend to do that?"

Even though he had kept his voice controlled, Claudia had heard the distrust in his pitch. She glanced at Cristina and raised her eyebrow, signaling her to step in.

Cristina gave a brief nod in understanding. "Vieri does not have a weakness for trifles. He is interested in power and he is ready to do anything which will give him that."

"And how do we exploit that?" Claudia asked. "How do we give him power when we have none?"

Cristina smiled. "We simply give him the mirage of one." Cristina explained. "Vieri dreams of commanding an enormous army and we merely give him the notion that he has a better chance of attaining that if he uses certain devices."

"What are you suggesting?" Leonardo inquired. This time there was no mistaking his dubiety.

Cristina stepped forward determinedly. "I am aware of your aptitude to do a lot more than just paint. I hear you devise things as well."

"Things." Leonardo repeated incredulously.

"I have heard in rumor that you design weapons as well."

Claudia felt a shiver go through her. Suddenly she didn't want Cristina helping her anymore. What if her doubts were correct and she was a Templar? Leonardo's safety was at stake here and she disliked the idea of putting her friend at risk. Maybe there could be another way to do this without dragging Leonardo into this. But Cristina's idea was good. After all, who would know about Vieri's weaknesses better than her?

Leonardo didn't reply and instead continued to regard her watchfully.

Cristina seemed to notice their hesitation, for she clasped her hands and looked down, but didn't address the thought nor confront them about their doubts.

"Vieri could be enticed and brought out from his confines, if we dangle the promise of better weaponry." She said.

Leonardo glanced at her and then back at Claudia. "So you are suggesting that I work with him?"

"Temporarily." Cristina said quickly. "You could show him counterfeit blueprints just so that he could be lured out into the open. He wouldn't suspect a thing and it would be easier for Claudia to make the kill."

Leonardo threw another glance at Claudia, but this time she didn't see a shadow of doubt on his face but inkling that he was considering this as a good idea.

"Bene. I'll see what I can do." Leonardo replied.

Cristina smiled. "Grazie. I shall show myself out then. I mustn't stay out for long as my husband may start to suspect my disappearance."

"Arrivederci." Leonardo said and Cristina turned around and left the studio. As soon as she had, he turned to her and entwined his fingers. "What do you make of this? Do you trust her?"

Claudia turned to look at the closed door and then back at him. "We'll just have to see."


	24. Chapter 24

Her plan was working.

Standing in the shadows, Claudia watched Cristina before her, looking as calm and graceful as she ever could. Below them, Vieri was peering down at the plans Leonardo had laid out on the work table and asking him when his project would be completed.

Claudia had to hand it to Leonardo for pulling off a perfect façade of debauchery. She couldn't hear all that he was saying, but Vieri appeared to believe his dishonesty and was idly clutching at his money pouch; as if he was ready to pay whatever price for the new weapons Leonardo had designed.

Claudia turned to look at Cristina, whose hands were gripping the railing of the balcony. Her eyes were predatory and her jaw had tightened, while she still managed to look composed. Her hair was combed back into a bun and held on by jeweled combs. Her emerald green dress was immaculate- with not a crease or a speck of dirt on it. She stood with as much bearing as royalty, but Claudia could still see a glimmer of the plain Florentine girl she had met years ago.

When Cristina turned, she had a smile tugging at her lips, implying that her plan was working. Claudia said nothing, only stood in the shadows lest Vieri look up and spot her. The plan would be ruined then. Vieri had with him three Brutes guarding him and the door to his office was wide open, which meant that if she decided to strike now, she would barely touch him before the Brutes pounced on her and called for reinforcements.

No, she had to wait until he was alone and according to the plan, it wouldn't be long before he would be.

"How many bullets will this hold?" she heard Vieri ask.

Leonardo mumbled a number she didn't catch. Vieri went on asking questions and even though she couldn't hear a word, Leonardo was replying reflexively, which made her wonder if the artist was actually considering building those weapons or if they were merely a trick.

"You have the model for this then?" Vieri asked.

"Si, it's in my workshop." Leonardo said. This she heard loud and clear. Leonardo had given the signal.

"Then go get it." Vieri said distractedly as he bent on the table to study the plans.

Leonardo hesitated and Claudia held her breath when he instinctively looked up. It was brief, but for a moment, she was sure that her position would be given away.

"Why are you still here?"

"I…er…the box is too heavy for me to carry." Leonardo replied.

Vieri turned to the Brutes. "Go help this anziano."

Leonardo made a disgusted face, but controlled his distaste for Vieri's choice of words.

"Bene. Follow me." He told the Brutes and then paused. "Er…I shall close the door. It's a bit drafty and I don't want the wind to take off with my plans."

"Fine, fine." Vieri said distractedly.

Leonardo closed the door behind him and Claudia heard the lock slip into place. She watched Vieri and let out a breath when he hadn't caught the sound.

"Go now." Cristina told her.

"Are you….sure?"

"He's not my husband, Claudia. He is nothing to me." Cristina replied, guessing what was going through her mind.

Claudia stepped up on the railing and flexed her wrist so that her hidden blade sprung out. She jumped down and landed easily on her feet.

Vieri stiffened and turned around to face her. "Assassin!" he cried out.

Claudia punched him on his jaw and watched Vieri tumble down. "Not just that, Vieri. You don't know who I am, do you?"

Vieri wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and reached for his sword. "It does not matter, for today you shall die…"

But before he could complete his sentence, Claudia raised her leg and landed her foot on his chest, resulting in Vieri losing his breath.

"Puttana!" he managed to scream.

Claudia took this chance to reach for his weapon belt, tear it off from around his hip and flung it aside. She bent down and held the blade to his throat.

"Before you die, stronzo, I want you to know who I am." She raised her hand and brought it down on his shoulder eliciting a hoarse cry from Vieri. "I am an Auditore. Claudia Auditore. You do know what you did to my family you porco!"

She brought down her blade on his thigh and Vieri squirmed in pain. "Puttana! You and your Mother are puttane!"

Claudia snarled at him and slapped him hard across the face. "Show some respect, Vieri. You are about to die. Is that what you want your last moments to be?"

Vieri stood up and started to limp towards the door. "Guards! Guards!"

Claudia laughed. "No one can hear you and no one is coming to help you."

Vieri fumbled with the door and fell down defeated when he realized the door was locked. "You planned this!"

"Like the way you planned to murder my sweet Petruccio!" Claudia accused.

A smile broke out on Vieri's lips. "Ah! That cagnolino. I had so much fun, killing him. He cried like a bambino and wailed for his Madre to come save him."

"Petruccio was brave." Claudia spat at him and was about to raise her blade again when Vieri caught her wrist. He used her to stand up and then struck her hard against the face.

"That should teach you your place." Vieri said joyously. "You're a filthy woman, nothing else. It doesn't suit you to bear weapons created for men."

"My husband sure does know how to treat women." Cristina said, coming down the stairs.

"What are you doing here?" Vieri demanded to know.

Cristina smiled. "Why, I planned your murder dear husband."

"What?" he thundered.

Cristina regarded him coolly. "After what you did to me and the Auditores, I can't believe you're still surprised."

"You are consorting with the enemy?"

"No, Vieri. You are the enemy."

Claudia recovered from the hit and brought up her Hidden Blade to his throat. "I shall enjoy this very much."

"You don't have the nerve!" Vieri stared defiantly at her with his wide grey eyes.

Claudia felt her anger burning in her throat. She had him. One thrust and Vieri would die by her hands. Her only regret would be that he hadn't suffered half as much as her family had.

Vieri clasped his hand on her wrist and Claudia gasped as he twisted it. She kicked him hard on his knees and as he fell, she punched him in the neck.

"Still up to your old tricks." Claudia spat at him.

"You won't kill me. You're a codardo! Your whole family was!"

Claudia grabbed his long hair and yanked it hard. "Do not mistake my hesitance for cowardice, Vieri." She hissed. "I paused only so that I can savor this moment when you die by my hands." She let the blade spring out and stabbed him in the throat with it.

Vieri started to gurgle blood and clutched at his throat. She glanced sideways to see Cristina glaring at him. As Vieri fell on his face, Claudia could feel the anger ebbing away. A pool of blood was forming beneath him and Claudia could do nothing but watch.

_This is for you, dear Petruccio. You were brave and the best little Brother anyone could ever have. Vieri is dead now and may you Rest in Peace._

"We must go." Cristina said. "Leonardo may need our help in dealing with the Brutes."

Claudia snapped out of her thoughts and nodded. She wiped the blood off her blades on Vieri's tunic and unlocked the door.

"We must hurry." She told Cristina. Leonardo was to keep the guards distracted, but the Brutes were called that for a reason. She feared that they might be hassling her friend.

When they reached the Bottega, Leonardo was already coming out with a huge bruise forming on the side of his cheek.

"Oh dear, what happened?" Claudia asked, running over to him.

"Eh! I'm used to their abuses."

"It was my fault! I should have not left you…"

"Calm down, Claudia." Leonardo said. "They started to harass me, but a kind gentleman helped me deal with them."

"Oh?" she asked suspiciously.

"Si, he is inside, disposing off the last body." Leonardo said. "How did it go?"

"Vieri is dead." She told him. She eyed the door to the shop and bit her lip. Whoever assisted Leonardo must be quite a fearless fighter, but why would he offer his help so readily?

"This young man did not use his muscles, but his brain. We had them knocked out in less than five minutes." Leonardo gloated.

"Leonardo." She told the blond haired man. "This man could be a spy…or….someone dangerous. Why else would he help you…?"

The door opened then and a man stepped out into the sunlight.

"Duccio?" she gasped.

Duccio grinned boyishly at her. "I was certain our paths would cross again. Cosa fortuna! Here you are!"

He took her hand in his and kissed it. Claudia regarded him in stunned silence, wondering why it was that her heart was beating so excitedly.


	25. Chapter 25

"You have paled." Duccio noted.

Claudia held her breath when she realized that she was still wearing her Assassin robes and that her sleeves had a smear of drying blood on it. Vieri's blood!

She tried to pull back her hand, in case he noticed her sleeves, but Duccio held on teasingly.

"We must get a change of clothes." Cristina said abruptly. She stepped before her and Duccio had to let go of her hand.

"I can see you are dressed rather unusually." Duccio noted.

"These are just garments we were trying on for fun." Cristina replied quickly.

Claudia couldn't reply and she was grateful to Cristina for making excuses on her behalf. She let Cristina take her hand and lead her inside Leonardo's studio.

"That was clumsy." Cristina stated, once she locked the door behind her.

"Scusa?"

"Not you." Cristina looked for a clean washcloth and found one under Leonardo's desk. "I was unaware that there would be someone else. He looks oddly familiar….as if I may know him from somewhere."

Claudia bit her lip as Cristina dipped the cloth into a basin of clean water and walked over to her. She was well aware that her face had become warm and that Cristina was sure to notice her hesitancy.

"You may know him from Firenze." She said in a strangled voice.

Cristina took her hand and started to wipe away at the bloodstains on her forearm. "Oh?"

Claudia swallowed. "That was Duccio de Luca. I was engaged to him many years ago."

Cristina paused and looked up at her. "Wasn't he…didn't you…I thought Ezio had asked him to stay away from you."

Claudia pulled her hand away from Cristina's grip and walked over to a chair. "He did." She sat down and gazed at her hands. "I…met him when I came here."

Cristina folded the washcloth and put it on the table. "So I take it that you are enamored with him?"

"What? No!" Claudia replied and then found that it wasn't entirely true. Why would she have feelings for him otherwise? Why would her heart beat so whenever she laid eyes on him?

"To be honest, I never thought he was worthy of you. Not to mention, he did have the reputation of being quite a womanizer."

"My feelings for him at the moment are rather complex at the moment. I would much rather discuss something else." Claudia frowned.

"Like the death of my husband?"

"Do you have no remorse?"

"That the man responsible for my pain and misery is dead? Not at all." Cristina sat on the chair from across her and sighed. "Although, I have to make my own plans to escape. Once Francesco di Pazzi discovers that his son is dead, he is bound to come after me. What repugnance I felt for Vieri was no secret."

"Then you are in much danger." Claudia exclaimed. "Perhaps you should stay here."

"No, I would like to go back home." Cristina said. "I am not as weak as I seem, Claudia. I can take care of myself. Besides, I have full faith that the Assassins will pursue Francesco as the next target."

"Certamente." Claudia said. "Francesco was behind the deaths of my Fathers and Brothers. He'll pay too."

"He was following orders." Cristina said. "The Intelligence behind this reprehensible deed is someone else.

"Who?"

"The Spaniard." Cristina replied. "I have only seen him at a distance, but I am absolutely sure that he was the one who had given the orders." She took another deep breath, leaned in and whisper. "And I have this feeling that he is not done with whatever he is planning. He is…."

"Signore!" Duccio said, coming in. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

Claudia glanced at Cristina and saw the darkness of anger on her face; as if she intended to give Duccio a piece of her mind. "No." she answered and got up swiftly. "However, Claudia was about to change into her clothes, so if you have no problems showing yourself out…."

Duccio only smiled at her rudeness and then turned to Claudia. "Bene. Why don't you change into something more comfortable and appropriate? I would like to take the honor of showing you the lights of the Carnivale."

Claudia clasped her hands on her lap and bit the inside of her lip. "I am…I mean…"

"Of course, she will go." Her Mother said, coming in from the door.

"Madre? What are you doing here?"

Her Mother came over to her and gathered her up in her arms. "I was worried about…er…you." She glanced uneasily at Duccio then turned back to her. "Leonardo told me how Duccio saved him from the brutes."

"Si, he did." Claudia mumbled a reply.

"And I have asked her to come with me to the Carnivale. It shall be ending soon and I would love to show her around." Duccio smiled.

To Claudia he looked so charming that she couldn't complain when her Mother appeared to be quite taken with him as well.

"Claudia will go." Her Mother promised.

"I…I would perhaps like to go talk to Uncle now." Claudia hoped her Mother would understand how important it was for her Uncle to know that she had killed Vieri. The Assassins had to be alert now in case the Pazzis retaliated.

"Your Uncle is away on…business. He shall arrive quite late at night."

"Madre, you don't understand." Claudia whispered. "I must inform Zio that…."

Her Mother squeezed her hands. "Your Uncle will be informed. A thief has already been dispatched. You are a woman, Claudia, who must learn to enjoy herself as well."

"But it's Duccio." She whispered. She glanced up and saw him speaking to Leonardo.

"Who looks like a reformed man." Her Mother protested. "Give him a chance, piccina."

Claudia saw the ray of hope in her Mother's eyes and understood why she was being pressed to go out with Duccio. Her Mother had probably started dreaming of her wedding and nothing could bring her more happiness that to see her daughter settle down. Claudia could understand this as Petruccio had envisioned the same for her and it now seemed it had been his dying wish.

"Say yes." Her Mother said, squeezing her hand.

Claudia nodded and smiled.

"She will come, Duccio." Her Mother announced and went over to him to thank him again for saving Leonardo's life.

Lost in her own thoughts, Claudia cursed the day she had decided not to take up on Machiavelli's offer and confide in him about how confused she had felt after she met Duccio. Machiavelli was younger than her, but so much wiser. He would have given sound advice and told her how to deal with these tangled feelings.

"Where are you, Machiavelli." She said to herself. More than anything now, she wanted him and his guidance.


	26. Chapter 26

The air was thick with music and laughter from the partygoers and everywhere she looked, she could notice guards eyeing everyone with a discerning vigilance.

Dressed in a lavender colored dress, Claudia felt an unease that she thought was alarming since she found herself wishing she was wearing her Assassin robes instead. Something about dressing up and walking arm in arm with Duccio was making her feel breathless and enveloping her with yearnings of the past. She couldn't do this again. The last time, she had run away and hidden only for Machiavelli to find her hours later. She couldn't do that again and let the guild spend precious time looking for her only because she couldn't come to terms with her own turmoil of emotions.

Duccio was being his charming self and offered her drinks and tidbits every now and then, but she was too distracted by the guards to fully pay attention to him. A few days ago, there had been only one or two guards stationed at every corner, but tonight, she was certain there were at least thrice that.

Her uneasiness deepened when she saw a group of guards whispering amongst themselves and she heard the name Pazzi loud and clear. It was obvious that Vieri's corpse had been found and they were on the lookout for the killer. For her.

Claudia let Duccio drag her away from the crowds to a secluded area where she could process her thoughts. But as she walked past another group of guards, her anxiety returned.

"Francesco is deeply aggrieved by his son's death." She heard one of them say.

A Brute standing next to him, idly played with his axe. "He has announced an award to bring the head of the killer. Seems like a great opportunity to make some easy florins."

"Stupido! Now is not the time to think of the florins. Francesco has gone mad with grief. Who knows what he would do now."

Another guard stepped in the group. "I heard he's in Firenze. He wants his son's body to be brought there for burial."

"Whoever killed him, made a huge mistake. They should have known better than to make enemies with the Pazzi."

Claudia swallowed and dropped her handkerchief to listen more. They were after all talking about her.

"It has to be the Assassins."

"Bah!" The Brute scoffed. "The Assassins have been wiped out. The last of them, that ubriacone Mario Auditore, will meet his demise soon if he was behind the attack."

"Hardly. He can barely hold up a sword." Another guard laughed.

"I shudder to think what chaos Francesco is going to bring to Firenze."

"Claudia, are you alright?" Duccio asked.

Claudia picked up her handkerchief and nodded quietly. Firenze. Francesco was in Firenze and as was his reputation, there was no doubt he would be causing a riot. All because of her!

Duccio led her to the docks and Claudia twisted the handkerchief between her fingers. Uncle Mario was away on some errand. Had he gone to Firenze? What if he was caught and murdered?

And then another thought came to her. One so terrifying that when Duccio touched her lightly to help her get into the gondola, she nearly screamed.

Uncle Mario may not be in Firenze, but Machiavelli was. He was too overconfident and if he had perchance committed an offense while enacting his Assassin duties, he may be severely punished.

Duccio made her sit in the gondola and Claudia felt her heart sink and her breath stuck in her throat. It was getting difficult to take in a breath now. Machiavelli was in in danger because of her. What had she done?

"You seem distracted." Duccio said after some time.

"I'm not." She managed to whisper. What else could she tell him?

Duccio smiled. He rowed silently for a while and then when they were further into the waters, he stopped and sat down next to her. Taking her hand in his, he gazed into her eyes and Claudia felt her fears for Machiavelli's safety slipping and another one clamoring up.

"Claudia." He began and her instincts already warned her about where this was headed. "I am a buffone, an idiota, every single parola you can think of that would insult me. I was too immaturo to have let you go in the first place. Losing you, made me look deep within myself and years later I have finally understood that I have made mistakes."

"Duccio…" she interrupted, but he placed a gentle finger on her lips and she shivered.

"Let me finish, amore mio." He clasped his other hand over the hand he was holding. "But my biggest mistake was to not see what and who I had. You can make a better man out of me, Claudia Auditore. And so I ask you humbly…"

Claudia sucked in her breath and wished she could pull out her hands from his grasp and just jump into the water. But then she remembered how her Mother had wanted nothing more but for her to settle down; even more than for her to become an Assassin.

"Claudia." His voice was husky. "Will you marry me?"

She bit her lip from screaming out loud. What should she do? How should she answer?

"Well?" Duccio prodded earnestly.

Claudia blinked at him. "There is a condition." She said. "And only after you agree to it will I accept your proposal."

When they reached the thieves Hideout, Claudia was still shivering, but not from the cold.

"My er….friends live here." She told him as he looked all around him.

He gave her a charming smile that had melted the hearts of every girl in Firenze and then took her hand.

Claudia saw Rosa and Ugo sitting on a bench and talking amicably for once. She smiled at them and wondered if years from now, this would be her and Duccio.

"Claudia!" Uncle Mario said, opening the door to the Hideout. "I was worried about you."

Claudia went into his arms and hugged him. "And I was worried about."

"You have succeeded?" He inquired and then cast an uneasy glance at Duccio who stood idly by watching niece and uncle.

"Yes. But I worry about the repercussions." She whispered.

"Don't be." Her Uncle assured her.

"Claudia!" Her Mother said, coming to join them. "You are back. Duccio, hope you had a lovely evening."

"We have an announcement to make." He said happily.

"Oh?" Uncle Mario was still frowning at him. He looked down at her and she shied away.

"I have asked Claudia to marry me."

"Che e' una notizia meravigliosa!" Her Mother exclaimed.

"Hmm." Her Uncle grunted.

"I am so very excited for the both of you." Her Mother said and embraced Duccio.

"However, Claudia has presented me with a condition."

"Oh."

"Si, she would like to wait for some time to get to know each other." Duccio said. "It is only fair as I have only earned her distrust after my misdeeds back in the day."

Her Mother's smile fell. "Of course. Claudia, perhaps you would like to go change your clothes?"

Claudia nodded, understanding that her Mother wanted to speak to her privately.

"It is time for Duccio, to go home anyway." Uncle Mario stated a bit gruffly.

"A presto." He waved and walked away with his hands in his pockets.

Claudia started to go in when her Uncle stopped her. "Nipote, are you sure about your decision?"

Claudia glanced hastily at her Mother and then looked down. "I think so. Si."

"But why wait?" Her Mother asked. "Duccio has reformed and he seems like such a nice boy now. So respectful and so charming."

"Madre, you are forgetting that I am an Assassin now." Claudia told her and from the corner of her eye she saw Uncle Mario smiling at her proudly. "I cannot shun my responsibilities now."

"Your Father was an Assassin too and he still managed his marriage."

"Madre, that is true but he was married to a woman who knew he was an Assassin."

"Duccio can handle it."

Claudia laughed at that. "Duccio has always been a codardo, Mother."

"He was young then."

"I will have to tell him, but not yet." Claudia argued. "I have to be sure he can handle this and not reveal our secrets to anyone."

"He won't." Her Mother told her. "You must have a little trust."

"And you must have patience!" Claudia almost screamed and then regretted it. "I mean….mi dispiace Madre. I did not intend to raise my voice." She went to her Mother and put her hand on her cheek. "I will get married Madre, but not until I have killed Francesco de Pazzi."

"Ah yes!" Uncle Mario jumped in. "Francesco is probably on a warpath now that his son is dead. We will need to be vigilant and require all the help we can get."

Claudia glanced at Uncle Mario and wondered if her Uncle really didn't like Duccio or was just annoyed that she may be giving up being an Assassin. Regardless of his motives, she was grateful for his favor and said nothing to him. If he was helping her buy a little more time, then why should she intrude?

"Bene." Her Mother agreed disappointedly. "But once Francesco meets his demise…"

"I will marry Duccio." She promised.

Her Mother kissed her cheek and then went inside. The minute she had, her Uncle turned to her.

"You are happy with this?"

"I think so. But enough of this. We must discuss our next strategy. I fear for the safety of our fellow Assassins." Claudia said. "Francesco is in Firenze, I've heard. And so is Machiavelli."

"Niccolò is doing fine. I have received his correspondence."

Claudia felt herself ease with this information even as another thought occurred to her. Why wasn't Machiavelli writing to her? She dismissed those thoughts. "So he is fine?"

"He can take care of himself, piccina. It is you I was worried about." He grinned then. "Not anymore now. You have the Auditore blood boiling in your veins as well!"

Claudia nodded. "How do we deal with Francesco?"

Uncle Mario took out a few pages from his pocket. "Our thieves acquired this from Vieri's corpse."

"I didn't know he was carrying the codex pages!" Claudia said. "I was careless."

"That is what the thieves are for." Uncle Mario said dryly. "I was with Leonardo the whole evening and within the pages of the codex, we found a letter. Francesco's Uncle Jacopo de Pazzi is conspiring."

"About what?"

"We have yet to uncover that. Whatever it is, the four men listed here are the key to that. We must find them."

Claudia took the letter from his hands and went through the names. "They are stationed in Toscana, according to this."

Uncle Mario put his hand on her shoulder. "Then that is where we'll go. With them out of the way, Francesco and his Uncle will be rendered helpless."

Claudia looked down at the letter again. This mission couldn't come at a better time. She was confident of her abilities now and knew that her targets wouldn't be so hard to eliminate. Besides, this would give her the time she needed to sort out all her feelings regarding Duccio.


	27. Chapter 27

The past two years had not passed away in vain. Antonio Maffei, Francesco Salviati, Bernardo Baroncelli and Stefano da Bagnone, were not simply names, but the identification of the victims of her blade. The letter procured by her Uncle had provided her with all the information she had needed to find her targets in Toscana, but the process of eventually killing them had not been so easy.

Those four men had moved with guards even when they stepped out of their houses for even a moment. With very few resources at hand, Claudia had no choice but to wait patiently until her Uncle forged a tricky plan. For her, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Her nuptials with Duccio were only delayed because her Mother had kept her word when she had asked for some time until she could assassinate Francesco.

Her Mother was often impatient during these two years, but Claudia had not minded. Just to see her Mother happy and talking to her was enough for her and if it meant that she would have to marry Duccio to guarantee her Mother's happiness, then she would. But that didn't mean she was happy inwardly. She had tried so hard to fall in love with Duccio, but even though he was his charming self and wrote nonsensical poems to describe her, she found herself unable to get closer to him.

Perhaps it was the memory of him cheating on her all those years ago, she had decided. There was no other fathomable reason to define why else she couldn't bring herself to fall in love with her husband to be or maybe she didn't have to love him. The wedding vows called for her to obey and serve and that is exactly what she would do.

Her resolve had helped her greatly in putting her mind at ease and come up with a plan to eliminate all four men at once. So on a warm Toscana night, she had schemed to get all her four targets in one place and had thus, sent them all counterfeit letters proclaiming an important meeting on top of the Torre del Diavolo. Apart from the address, she had carefully printed that they come alone as it was a matter of immense importance and concerning the Spaniard.

The Spaniard- a man she had only heard and had yet to meet. His name was used to incite fear in them and it had done just that. With their guards waiting at the bottom, Claudia had taken five minutes to climb the tower and reach the top where the four were waiting.

Her Uncle had handed her three tiny globes before she had left and when she had pulled herself up, she had dropped one of the tiny globes unceremoniously and waited a few seconds as the smoke clouded their visions. She had acted on her instincts alone and taken them down with her Hidden Blade.

Just before killing Stefano, she had held him by the front of his robes and pushed him down on the ledge.

"What is Francesco planning? What are the Pazzis up to?" she had demanded to know.

"Non uccidermi, per favore!" he had pleaded.

"Tell me!" she had growled.

"H-he has f-found o-one of the s-s-seals."

"The seals?" she had asked and tugged on the front of his robes until he shook and uttered a startled cry.

"In Firenze!" he had cried out. "He found a tomb and found a seal. It belongs to the Assassins!"

Claudia had clenched her jaw then. Her Uncle had mentioned about the seals earlier and claimed that six seals would open the grills that would then let her obtain Altair's armor.

"Where is Francesco?"

"In Firenze."

Claudia had resisted the urge to slap him. "I know that, idiota. Where in Firenze?"

"Santa Maria Novella. That's where he holds his secret meetings." He had gasped.

She had then slipped her blade into his throat, killing Stefano, and then performed a leap of faith before fleeing away in the darkness.

There was no darkness today. The sun was shining down on her and the warm morning was relieved by a gentle breeze brushing against her.

Firenze. She was back home but still further away. Her home was probably in shambles once again and inhabiting the drunks of this city. One day, she would go back and claim her home and live in it with dignity. Today, she would concentrate on finding out how to breach the walls of the church.

She took in a deep breath, and was surprised by how Firenze still smelled the same. She could catch a faint aroma of sweet flowers, a more acrid smell that belonged to manure used in fields and a whiff of freshly prepared dye.

Claudia took in a shaky breath as she recalled the day she wanted to get one of her dresses dyed. She had barely walked two steps towards the door, when Federico had stopped her.

"_And where are you off to?" he had inquired._

_Claudia had made a face. "Flora is having her birthday party. I'm going to get my dress dyed to a beautiful green." _

"_Green?" Federico had made a disgusted face. He had taken the plain dress from her arms and looked at it critically. "No, no. It would be better if you dye this a rich red. You're from Firenze and respectful girls wear red."_

_She had snatched the dress from his hands. "I have plenty of red dresses. This will be a green."_

"_You have no taste." _

"_I am not going to take advice on clothes from you, fratello. You have no taste in clothes and no regard for colors."_

"_Bene." He had relented and rolled his eyes. "I shall give it to the tailor then."_

"_I can do it all by myself!" she had pushed up her chin and regarded him with narrow eyes._

_He hadn't listened and instead taken the dress and walked away. Hours later when he had returned, she had seen that her dress was indeed a beautiful shade of green- a color similar to the trees growing beside their house._

"_It is beautiful." She had remarked. _

"_I suppose so. Still think you should have gone for red."_

_Claudia had immediately gone into her room and tried on the dress. "How do I look?"_

_Ezio had come in just then and burst into laughter. "What is that?"_

"_It's a dress." She frowned. _

_Ezio had slapped Federico on the back. "Do you think we should get some fruit and hang it on her arms? Then she'll look like a tree."_

"_Oh!" she had said with tears welling in her eyes. Ezio had called Petruccio then and together her three brothers had made fun of her until she had sobbed out loud. Her cries had brought her Father from the office and for the rest of the day, no one had made fun of her._

Claudia opened her eyes and wiped away her tears. Were her memories going to haunt her forever? She looked at the sleeves of her robes and wondered if she should dye them red to honor her family. Perhaps it was a good idea, but the thought of ruining her Father's robes nettled her. If the tailor did a terrible job then her robes would be ruined.

She was pondering on this when something inside her snapped back to attention to the streets below. Standing up on the roof, she squinted as she spotted Francesco emerging from a carriage and heading into the church.

He was here. And his death would not be far behind.

She waited until the door to the church closed behind him, and then performed a leap of faith, landing smoothly into the haystack below.

Making sure no one had noticed her, she emerged from the haystack and made her way to the church building. There were guards all around the rooftops and the shifts had yet to change, but she couldn't delay her plans any longer. It had been two years, and Francesco was still breathing.

She walked over to the sides where a long wall stretched around the church and scaled it quickly, dropping behind a small tree. There were a few women sitting on benches and conversing, and fortunately, none of them had noticed her. She stared at the backs of the guards and then made her way to the far end of the wall.

This was where the secret entrance was. La Volpe had lighten up when she had told him where Francesco was hiding and immediately drew up plans on the building.

"_There's a secret entrance, here." He had said drawing a large X on the side of the map. People think it's a nonfunctioning fountain, but it's not. You'll need to press the buttons with your fingers. _

Claudia looked at the mechanism that to her looked like a skull. She inserted her fingers into the eyes and rotated it. Something behind the walls let out a whirring sound and the floor beneath was pulled away. She looked around her; made sure she wasn't being watched and climbed down.

Once inside, it didn't take her long to find where Francesco was. His voice echoed through the walls as he spoke about his son's death and his preordained vengeance upon the Assassins.

"The Spaniard will not be happy." His Uncle Jacopo was saying.

"Basta! My son will be avenged."

"The Assassins are working discreetly. Where they are and how they work is a mystery to us." His Uncle tried to explain.

Claudia peeked at the two men from behind a pillar and got her blades ready. This was perfect. Her two targets were right before her. And alone. Something told her that this was perhaps too convenient, but she paid no heed at her inner voice.

"I have an idea to draw them out." Francesco said and rummaged in a bag for something. Claudia held her breath and then let it out slowly as he brought out a circular object out.

"What is that?" Jacopo inquired.

"I do not know." Francesco replied. "But it was found in a tomb within these walls and has a mark of the Assassins. Whatever it is, this object is of great importance to the Assassins. Of that I am certain."

Claudia stepped out from behind the pillars and walked into the light. "That is true, Francesco. Now hand it over." She raised her hand.

Francesco looked stunned for a minute, before a grin broke into his face making him appear like a madman. "Looks like the plan has already worked. I knew the Assassins would try to obtain this from me."

"It is not only that I am here for." She spoke.

"And what else do you want?" Francesco started to walk towards her slowly and Claudia's hidden blades sprung out.

"Revenge." She said and charged towards him.

Francesco took out his sword from his belt, while Jacopo directed himself behind the table and quaked in fear.

Claudia raised her blades at him, but he easily deflected it.

"The Assassins have grown weak." He taunted as he deflected another one of her attacks. "They sent a woman to do their dirty work. Filthy pigs!"

Claudia kicked him on his shins and Francesco made a move to grab her shoulders. Claudia side-stepped him and turned on her boots so that she was behind him. She pushed Francesco expecting him to stumble, but he was quick to regain his balance and struck her blades with is sword.

"The Assassins are a bunch of codardi!" he spat.

"You are the codardo!" Claudia said in seething anger. "Your son Vieri was no better!"

"Do not speak of my son that way!" Francesco snarled and made another move to grab her and Claudia barely slipped away before his blade came down.

"It was fun killing him." She provoked. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"A filthy Assassin. What else?"

Claudia bent her head down, kicked him in the knee and when he bent over, she used both her hands to shove him down. Moving quickly, she straddled him and put her blade at his throat.

"It is only fair that you know who killed you." She said. "I am Claudia Auditore da Firenze. Daughter of Giovanni Auditore. Remember?"

Francesco looked astounded and squirmed underneath her, but she stayed put. "A filthy Assassin's daughter? Your Mother was a whore and…."

Claudia slapped him hard across the face and then spat at him. "You deserve to die like a dog. May your soul never find peace. You will forever burn in hell's eternal inferno."

"Claudia!" she looked up to see La Volpe climbing in from a window. "You must show respect for the dead. Isn't that what your Uncle's been teaching you?"

"Don't hurt me!" Jacopo quivered and fell to his knees.

"La Volpe." She said through gritted teeth and kept glaring at Francesco. "The guards are taken care of?"

"Those poor bastardi are chasing my elusive thieves."

"Those worthless pigs!" Francesco cried.

"Why is he still alive?" La Volpe asked.

Claudia swallowed. Killing was now in her blood, but whenever she imagined killing Francesco, she had envisioned a far more painful and torturing death. Not this; this was too easy.

Claudia closed her eyes, remembered the faces of her family and let her blade slide into Francesco's throat.

"Requiescat in pace." La Volpe muttered. "And now Jacopo."

"Please! Mercy!" he pleaded.

"Your family showed mine none!" Claudia almost screamed. She got off Francesco and made her way to the other Pazzi.

"I wasn't involved." He said. "The Spaniard! It was him who wanted your Father and Brothers out of the way."

Claudia looked at him in stunned silence. "What? Why?"

"He wanted to make sure your family wouldn't hinder his plans."

"Rodrigo Borgia." La Volpe said thoughtfully.

Claudia looked at him. That was his name? The man behind her family's murder was Rodrigo Borgia?

"And what were his plans?" La Volpe asked.

"He wanted to make sure that the Medici would be removed from Firenze. He was the one who planned the attack alongside….Francesco. The Medici are dead because of him!"

"That's not entirely true." A voice said.

Claudia turned around to see a man, coming up the stairs, with his hands behind his back. As he stepped into the light, Claudia felt a flutter in her heart as she recognized him. It had been such a long time since she had seen him, and she had to admit, she was happy seeing him.

"The Pazzi did not succeed with their plans." Machiavelli said. "The Medici are still alive."


	28. Chapter 28

The man before her stood proud and with grace. There was no mistaking the keenness registered in his placid face as he scanned the room, pausing at Jacopo who was crouched in the corner, then glancing at La Volpe before finally letting his gaze settle on her.

Machiavelli was dressed in a Florentine red doublet and deep green breeches. He wore a belt around his waist that held two tiny pouches and a sword.

Claudia was slightly taken aback by how different yet similar he looked. His eyes were a darker shade of grey and his hair was shorter than when she had last seen him. His jaw was more defined and his arms looked muscular, as if he had much practice with fighting lately.

"Niccolò!" she uttered and then caught the amusement in his eyes as she realized she had called him by his first name. Had she never called him Niccolò before? Her cheeks started to get warmer as he walked towards her and instead of taking her hand, bent his head down to kiss her gently on the cheek.

"It is good to see you Claudia Auditore." His voice was husky and under his lingering gaze, Claudia was now sure that her face was red.

"What is this business with the Medici you were talking about?" La Volpe interrupted.

Machiavelli immediately grew impassive and left her side to walk towards Jacopo. "The Medici are alive. Lorenzo and his son are still alive."

"How is that possible? My thieves have learnt nothing of this or they would have told me." La Volpe argued.

Machiavelli removed his sword and Jacopo let out a moan. "The loyalties of your thieves were easily swayed by coin."

"Niccolò!" La Volpe cautioned. "I do not take it lightly that you insult my guild."

"I do not." Machiavelli said turning around to finally face him. "In fact I'm filled with gratitude for their aid in helping me keep this secret."

Claudia chewed on the inside of her lip as the two men argued before her. She still couldn't understand how La Volpe could have any issues with Machiavelli, considering the younger man had given his life to the Assassins at such a young age.

"And why weren't the other Assassins informed of this?"

Machiavelli gave a wry smile. "The truth need only be told when it is necessary."

"And it wasn't necessary before?" La Volpe continued heatedly. "Besides, you expect me to believe that you really care for the Medici? It is a well-known fact that you would like nothing better than to get rid of the Medici."

"Si." Machiavelli replied boldly. "But that does not mean that I want them to be killed. The Pazzi are Templars and their enemy is my enemy."

"Bah!" La Volpe chided. "I have had my eye on you for a while Niccolò. Your intentions are due to come to light someday." 

Claudia wished she could think of something to distract the men from their never-ending argument. "What are we going to do with Jacopo?" she asked, raising her voice as the two men looked as if they were about to tear each other's throats.

She saw Machiavelli's nostrils flare and then he made his way to Jacopo and rested his blade on him.

"Where is Rodrigo Borgia?" he demanded.

Jacopo let out a whine. "Let me go." He whimpered.

"Where?"

"I-I-do not k-know." He stammered. Machiavelli pushed his blade closer to Jacopo's throat and the old man started to cry. "Don't kill me. The Spaniard moves in the darkest of shadows. No one knows where he could…"

Machiavelli grunted and Claudia felt her breath caught in her throat. She had never imagined the usual placated man could be capable of such ferocity. His eyes were blazing in fury and his lips were twisted in a snarl. If she had seen this side of him in Monteriggioni a few years ago, she would have never opened up to him.

"Emilio Barbarigo!" Jacopo mustered. "He's the lackey, if anyone knows where Rodrigo is, he would."

"And where can I find him?" Machiavelli inquired, still looking fierce.

"V-venezia."

Machiavelli stood back and removed his blade from Jacopo's throat. He stayed for a few seconds, not moving and then in a blink of an eye, he stabbed Jacopo in the chest.

Claudia let out a gasp and then looked down at her hands that still had Francesco's blood drying on her gloves. Is that what she looked like when she killed her targets? Her targets? Is that what she was becoming- someone so cold and who had very little recollection of names and vices. She was killing people now. Killing them….

"Killing people who have wronged the people." Machiavelli said, reading her thoughts.

Claudia looked up at him and saw the same trustworthy face that she had been familiar with. Behind him, Jacopo's corpse lay slumped in the corner.

"Yes they have." She said and checked her expressions. Was she so transparent that anyone could guess her thoughts? She glimpsed at La Volpe who was oblivious to her apparent reaction and already dragging the corpse out.

Claudia swallowed and took a deep breath. "So, Lorenzo Medici is alive?"

"Si. Come, I'll take you to him. He will be glad to see you."

Claudia gave him a small. "Why would you assume he even knows me?"

Machiavelli raised an eyebrow and started to walk. "Do you not know? Lorenzo and your Father were close friends."

Claudia blinked. How could she possibly not been aware of that? What else did she not know? And then another thought occurred to her.

"Those thieves! The secret meetings!" she said excitedly. "They were thieves from Firenze and you were being secretive because they were helping you with the Medici family?"

"I am impressed by your deduction. Let us go now. We are being expected."

"Messere Mario has successfully fended off the Pazzi guards." A thief said in passing. Claudia opened her mouth to ask him if her Uncle required any other assistance, but the thief had already left.

Those were the ways of the thieves and Claudia was slowly getting used to their tactics, though she would have preferred if the thief had stuck around to answer her queries about her Uncle's welfare. But the thieves had known to deliver accurate reports and despite her worry, her Uncle was a skilled fighter and she knew that.

La Volpe continued to walk with Machiavelli while Claudia followed a step behind them. They were off to see the Medici and Claudia felt a dull excitement inside her and she realized it had probably to do with seeing Machiavelli after such a long time.

She had some many things to ask and so many things to tell him. She had to tell him how Rosa and Ugo had a baby girl and that they had named her Flora. And then she would tell him how Leonardo was helping her train and had become a wonderful friend to her. Then she would discuss how she had killed four men by tricking them to meet in one of the towers of Tosacana. He would be so pleased to learn that she had used shrewdness to entice the four men. After that she would tell him about….

Claudia stopped in her tracks. Then she would have to tell him about Duccio and her promise to her Mother that she would marry after Francesco was dead. She looked down at her arms and the Hidden Blades. Francesco was dead and now her Mother would ask her to keep her word.

"Claudia." Machiavelli asked, turning his head. "Is something the matter?"

Claudia shook her head and then noticed that the two men were waiting for her to answer.

"You look pale." La Volpe observed.

"I was merely wondering if Uncle Mario was alright." She said quickly.

La Volpe scratched his beaked nose. "My thief has just confirmed that he is."

Machiavelli pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. He was doing it again, she told herself. He was reading her and she didn't know whether to be pleased that he knew her so well or annoyed that her face and expressions were giving away every thought.

"Let's us walk." Machiavelli said.

Claudia followed him silently and tried to pay attention to what the two men were discussing, but their words were barely adhering to her mind. She kept thinking of the promises she made and of Duccio. She didn't want to marry him, but doing so was going to make her Mother so happy. How could she deny her own Mother happiness?

"Here we are." Machiavelli said and she looked up to see a large wooden door before her. Turning around her, she noticed that they had walked into a secluded alley between two abandoned buildings.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Machiavelli smiled mysteriously. "A hiding place so discreet that to reach here is a challenge."

La Volpe frowned but said nothing and Claudia blinked, suddenly feeling her nervousness rising up. She would have to tell him. He was going to find out soon anyway and it was better she tell him.

Machiavelli opened the door and they walked in.

"Niccolò?" A man asked, walking into their view. He was tall, had thinning shoulder length hair and was dressed in a long red robe.

"I have brought someone for you to meet."

Claudia stepped out from behind him and forced a smile. "It is an honor to meet you." She managed to say.

The man stepped back, and stared at her in unconcealed surprise. He massaged his forehead and then put his hands on her arms. "You're Giovanni's child." He exclaimed.

"Si, I'm…."

"Claudia." The man said. "Of course I know who you are. Your Father talked non-stop about you and I would have met you sooner had you not always been playing with your friends."

"He did?" Claudia felt her eyes filling with tears. "You and my Father were friends?"

The man put down his hands and bowed. "Lorenzo Medici. Your Father and I have been friends since we were children."

He took her hand and led her towards an empty chair. "It is so wonderful to see an Auditore live and well."

"She's an Assassin now." Machiavelli told him and Claudia could hear the pride in his voice.

She could see Lorenzo's eyes glisten with tears. "Your Father would have been proud of you." He told her.

"I certainly hope so." She said a bit woodenly, her thoughts redirected towards her imminent marriage to Duccio. Would she be allowed to be an Assassin after her wedding? She almost laughed at that thought. Duccio didn't even know she was an Assassin yet, so his permission to let her be one was simply ludicrous.

"He would be." Lorenzo said. "My family is indebted to your Father for what he did."

"What did he do?" she asked.

Lorenzo looked happy with her question and proceeded to tell her about how as a child he had fallen into the river and how her brave Father had saved him. "That was when our friendship began." He paused momentarily and his eyes glistened again. "It is with great regret that I have to say that I was unable to help your family."

Claudia could feel her heart squeeze with pain. Lorenzo could have helped them? Why hadn't she known that? At that time the Medici were still ruling and his orders could have saved her family's life.

"It was a conspiracy." Machiavelli said, coming to sit beside Lorenzo and across from her. "It was carefully planned and executed, and the timing was such, that it solely depended on you being absent."

Lorenzo shook his head ruefully. "You keep telling me that, but I have trouble not blaming myself for being unable to save my friend."

Claudia looked down at her feet and shifted uncomfortably. Despite what she thought, the truth was that Lorenzo could have done little to change her destiny to be eternally miserable. On top of everything, she had to marry the one person she didn't love and she had no idea how to turn away from her promise.

She got up abruptly and as the three men looked at her in surprise, she looked away so that they couldn't see the tears in her eyes nor read her pale expressions. "Mother must be expecting me." She mumbled.

"Claudia…" Lorenzo began.

"It was an honor to meet you." Claudia said, unable to keep the bitterness in her voice. Even harsher were the words in her mind. Lorenzo could have saved her family. He could have, if fate had not been so cruel.

"I shall walk with you." Machiavelli said. "I would like to meet Maria."

Claudia nodded and walked out the door, wishing her heart didn't hurt so much. The memories and faces of her Family were never going to go away and neither were the promises of what her life could have been if they had been alive. Would Ezio and Federico ever want her to marry Duccio?

"Claudia, you are not fine are you?" Machiavelli asked, closing the door behind him.

She could ignore him and he wouldn't persist. But for two years she had missed having a confidant and she missed relying on his advice.

"I…" she fumbled with the words, took a deep breath to calm herself and clear her head. "It's just, I hadn't known that Lorenzo Medici could have stopped the execution. It's just another 'what if' he had been there to save my family."

"A lot of things could have happened." Machiavelli said firmly, yet kindly. "Lorenzo could have been there. Uberto could have decided to remain loyal. Of all the things, maybe Ezio could have succeeded in releasing your family from prison. But none of those things happened and you aren't upset about that."

Claudia felt irked by his statement and started to walk. "You are so…."

"Annoying? Incorrigible?"

Claudia gritted her teeth. "No, far, far worse. You asked me what was wrong and I told you. Yet you think I am upset about something else but I'm not. For once, what I'm saying isn't masking another thought."

Machiavelli matched her pace as they walked out the alley and Claudia saw that she was near her home- or what was once used to be her home. A tear rolled down her face and she wiped it away furiously. "So that's where we are."

"It was going to be the Palazzo, but after your last visit to Firenze, the guards have been patrolling occasionally. We could have used that lack of attention. But coming back to the point…"

"There is none!" she said sharply and avoided meeting his gaze.

"Something tells me, it has something to do with your current predicament. There is something going on which you do not approve of and you long for the days when you weren't responsible for making your own decisions and taking care of someone rather than being taken care of."

"You are wrong!" she said and walked towards the small house at the end of the street. That was where Duccio lived and where her Mother and her were staying for a while. She wanted to stop then, turn and run away.

As far as Duccio knew, she was at the market and if she ran away right now, he would never find her and neither…would her Mother. No, she couldn't live without her Mother.

"Claudia." Machiavelli said, grabbing her elbow and making her turn towards him. "Something is terribly wrong by the way your face has turned ghostly pale. You are frightening me by being so secretive."

Claudia felt her lips tremble and looked at the house before her. It was going to be hers soon, after her wedding. "I'm just nervous." She said. "I did not mean to alarm you."

"Nervous about what?"

Claudia met his gaze and saw the worry in his eyes. "I…I am…"

"You are here." Duccio cried as he came out. "You were gone away for a long time, caro."

Machiavelli let go of her arms as Duccio called her lovingly and frowned at him.

Duccio came over to her, put an arm around her and kissed her cheek. "Your Mother and I were discussing, and she just told me that it will be soon."

"What will be?" Machiavelli asked and Claudia felt her heart skip a beat. Now he would know and there was nothing she could do to stop this.

"You're her friend?"

"Si." Machiavelli said arrogantly. He was considering Duccio as if he were a filthy animal and Claudia had to admit that both of them standing together yielded the same comparison- Duccio did look like a filthy animal in front of Machiavelli's graceful stature.

"Claudia did not tell you?" Duccio said. He brought her closer to him, encircling his arm around her waist. "We are to be married soon."

"What?" Machiavelli looked completely shaken and stared at her, dumbfounded. "Are you getting married?"

Claudia stared down, unable to meet anyone's gaze. She was caught between a man she didn't want to marry and one she didn't want to disappoint.


	29. Chapter 29

Duccio quickly rushed her into the house and Machiavelli followed them closely behind. She wanted to stop and explain, but Duccio had announced her arrival and her Mother emerged from her room, carrying a deep red dress in her hand.

"Claudia, just in time." Her Mother said. "I was putting the final touches to your dress." She unfolded the dress and held it up for Claudia to see.

The dress was a rich burgundy with golden lace on the bodice and sleeves. On the waist, was a belt made of eagle feathers and on the hem she found more eagle feathers stitched on the fabric. Claudia's fingers grazed lightly over the feathers and she could feel her tears pricking her eyes.

"Petruccio would have loved to see you on your wedding day." Her Mother said and then frowned. "He has collected so many feathers over the years. I don't know if I should use them all."

Claudia felt a lump in her throat and said nothing while her Mother spread the dress on a table and studied it. "Perhaps…" Her Mother noticed someone behind her and smiled. "Niccolò, you're here as well. I hadn't noticed."

"Do not worry. A lot of people barely notice me. I suppose that comes with years of training as an Assassin that makes it so easy to blend into the background." His voice was sharp and bitter and Claudia went over to sit on a chair.

"Nonsenso!" Her Mother said. "It is astounding that you do anything but blend in. You could stand out in a crowd of a hundred people."

Machiavelli bent his head to kiss her Mother on the cheek. "That is very kind of you to say."

Claudia could feel her face burning and stared down at her clasped hands, wondering why she felt so embarrassed in front of Machiavelli.

"And true." Her Mother continued. "You're presence will be greatly appreciated in Claudia's wedding.

Claudia did look up at him then and saw his face stiffen. He didn't reply and merely backed away a step as if wanting to walk away without a word, but knowing that it wasn't in him to be so impolite.

Duccio handed him a glass then and made him sit on an empty chair. "You have to hear my plans." Duccio said excitedly. "I was thinking of what sort of music that should be played."

Machiavelli swirled the liquid in the glass and still didn't reply.

_He's angry with me, _Claudia thought and the truth was that she was angry with herself too, although she couldn't understand why.

"Will Cristina come?" Her Mother asked her, and Claudia almost jumped. "I suppose so. She's been travelling from one place to another after Vieri was killed."

"But there's no more threat now that the Pazzi are dead." Her Mother said and broke the thread with her teeth. She threaded the needle again and bent over her dress. "Have you sent news to her?"

"I will." Claudia said distractedly and turned to look at Machiavelli who was frowning and looking irritated as Duccio babbled on. Then Machiavelli suddenly looked at her and she felt her heart skip a beat. He looked so forlorn, but that was only a fleeting expression. His eyes suddenly blazed with anger and he put down the glass on the table with such force that a few droplets of water splashed on the floor.

"I have to leave." He said, standing up.

Claudia looked away and then felt her heart jump once more when he spoke again.

"Claudia, I would like to have a word with you in private." He said.

Her Mother stared at him and then back at her in puzzlement.

"It is about…" He hesitated and looked at Duccio before speaking again. "It's about this book we were discussing and I would like her to show me where it can be purchased here."

The lie was extremely transparent, but it was meant for Duccio only as her Mother nodded thoughtfully, assuming that it had something to do with the Assassin Order.

Claudia got up and walked outside the house, glad to be out in the open so that she could feel the warmth of the sun on her cold skin. She shuddered when Machiavelli walked beside her.

"Over there." He said, motioning towards the Ponte Vecchio . They walked in silence and Claudia absently played with the sleeve of her robes.

Once they had reached, Claudia stood underneath an arch as Machiavelli gazed down at the waters. He put his hands on the railing. "Does…do you…." He hesitated and Claudia was surprised to see him struggling with his words. He still wasn't looking at her and that was making her mad.

"Do I love Duccio? Is that what you're trying to ask?"

Machiavelli nodded and furrowed his brows.

"The answer is no." Claudia said. "This marriage is not out of love but convenience. My Mother wanted to see me married and I did not want to disappoint her."

"So you're sacrificing your happiness." He asked dryly. She peered down and saw a lone boat floating on the waters.

"For ten years, my Mother didn't speak to me. I prayed and begged her to utter a single word, but she didn't….couldn't." She took a deep breath and put one hand on the railing beside him. "This is going to make my Mother so happy. I cannot take this away from her just because Duccio isn't the man I want to marry."

"Do you think your Mother would be happy to know that you are miserable afterwards?"

Claudia kept her eyes fixed on the boat like him. "People change. In ten years, I have changed, so why couldn't Duccio?"

"You are getting married to Duccio, assuming that he has changed?" Machiavelli asked in amazement, but she had heard the sarcasm in his voice too.

"He has been nice to me over the past two years. Also, he was patient with me while I searched for Francesco."

Machiavelli turned his head to look at her, while leaning on the railings. "So Duccio knows about your heritage. I must give him some credit then for I thought he appeared to be a coward."

Claudia bit her lip and clutched the railings tight. She had meant to tell Duccio, but couldn't bring herself to do so. Her Mother had advised her to tell him immediately, but she had known Duccio longer than her Mother had and knew that Duccio would run away. Then what would happen to her Mother? She wouldn't take the news well since she was eagerly waiting for the day her daughter would get married.

"You did not tell him." Machiavelli stated incredulously.

Claudia turned sharply and was about to scold him, but saw that he wasn't mocking her, but regarding her with concern as if he too had guessed what could happen to her Mother's health if Duccio did indeed run.

"I meant too." She said. "But I was having a hard time devising a plan to capture Francesco and…"

"Excuses." Machiavelli said and shook his head. "You are entering a marriage with someone who isn't reliable at all. Do you know that?"

"He doesn't need to know the truth." She said stubbornly. "I've managed to hide this from him for two years. I can do it for twenty more…or more than that."

"I was wrong about you." He said sardonically. "I had always thought that misery always found you, but it seems you keep searching for it."

"What I do, is of my own concern." She snapped. "I don't need you to tell me that I am making a mistake. What do you know of me anyway? You haven't lived my life but only studied it from a great distance. If you had so much interest in my welfare, then perhaps you shouldn't have left me alone and come here to Firenze."

"I was trying to keep the Medici safe." Machiavelli retaliated.

"You could have made that information known to the rest of the Assassins as well." She reminded him. "We could have aided you."

"I didn't know who to trust with this information. If word had gone out that they were alive…"

"Now you are the one making excuses." Claudia rebuked. "Are you saying you don't trust me? I've shared everything with you…but you have not been so forthcoming yourself."

"I…."

But Claudia did not let him speak. Her hands were shaking with anger and her throat closing up. She was coming to a point where she was afraid she was going to burst into tears. Fortunately, there weren't any people around and the shops were closed or they would have created such a scene.

"Basta! It is easy to tell someone they are making mistakes, but can you admit you've made them yourself?"

Machiavelli took a long deep breath and looked down at her haughtily. "If I had made errors I would have. But I do not think I have."

Claudia threw her hands up in the air, frustrated at the wall Machiavelli was content living behind. "And according to you, I have made plenty."

"That is not what I am implying."

"You said it yourself that marrying Duccio was a mistake."

"Hiding such an important part of your life from him, is." He replied coolly. "Besides, I don't think him worthy of you."

Claudia could feel her face getting warmer and turned away, reminding herself that she was still angry with him for accusing her of being careless with her life.

"Then I'll tell him." She muttered.

"If you trust him enough to keep that secret, then si, do so." Machiavelli came to stand before her and put a finger under her chin, lifting it. "But if you cannot, then there is a risk of him telling our enemies about you. The question is so, Claudia….do you trust that man enough to keep your secrets and keep you happy for the rest of your life?"

Claudia blinked up at him. Her panic started to rise up her throat. She didn't want to marry Duccio….she didn't want anything to do with a man who she was sure would only betray her the way he had done all those years ago. But she also couldn't deny letting her Mother be happy for her daughter. The thought of her Mother and of Petruccio led her to utter a complete lie. "Si." She said. "He cares for me and he did ask for a second chance. He will keep my secrets because he cares for me."

Machiavelli removed his finger, and she could see him looking disturbed and angry at the same time. He walked away without saying anything and Claudia could do nothing but watch him and wonder if he was also walking away from her life.


	30. Chapter 30

Claudia was standing atop of the Campanile di Giotto (the bell tower) and gazing below at the people walking down the streets. The sun was setting in the horizon and she watched two birds fly across the sky, making the setting seem like a painting she had once seen at an exhibition.

She sat down and blinked back her tears as she remembered the events of this afternoon. It was supposed to be an unexciting day even as she was yet to sort out her feelings regarding her wedding. They were shopping in the Mercato and returning home when her Mother had asked her to buy some flowers for the vase on the dining table. Duccio had been so kind to let them stay at his home and her Mother had wanted to repay his kindness by cooking a special meal for him.

"Any would do." Her Mother had said in a dismissive tone. She was taking out the bread from a bag and peeling back the paper to smell it. "E infatti fresca." She had said.

Claudia smiled at her Mother and had picked up her purse and left, intending to go to a nearby flower stall and getting done with this errand quickly so that she could go to her room and be alone with her thoughts. It had been a week and Machiavelli had still not spoken to her much less come visit them. She couldn't believe they had ended up arguing like that and she wished she could just find him and tell him how important his friendship was to her. But things had kept coming up that required her attendance.

The wedding dress had required a few alterations, the flowers needed to be chosen, Duccio's clothes had to be chosen as he did not have a family and then there was the food for the feast. Claudia had wanted to scream and tell them that she couldn't do this and that being an Assassin was easier than being married to a man like Duccio, but doing so would only disappoint her Mother.

So she had remained quiet throughout the preparations, but wished Machiavelli was with her guiding her through this. Lost in these thoughts, she had passed the tiny flower stall and walked towards the docks. She had almost tripped and fallen into the water had a beggar not stopped her from doing so. Murmuring a thanks, she had hastened away when she had heard his voice.

Turning around with a smile, she had felt her breath knocked out of her when she saw Machiavelli helping a woman out of a boat. They were far away from her so she couldn't see exactly who she was, but by the way Machiavelli was kissing her hand and smiling at her, she had felt something inside her burn and die away rapidly.

She was clutching at her chest as her heart ached painfully. Watching Machiavelli with another woman made her want to burst into tears in front of all these people. She had wanted to walk away before he noticed her; and it would be soon since they were walking towards the docks she was on. But her legs had felt numb and her fingers icy cold as the woman stroked Machiavelli's arm.

Claudia watched the sun finally dip and kept staring at the sky that was now a blend of orange, yellows and blues. She pleaded with herself to not remember what happened next, but her mind was spiteful and replayed the scene over and over vindictively.

She still hadn't been able to move and her throat felt strangled as Machiavelli had closed by. Then, he had noticed her and she had felt her heart stop. His gaze was of initial surprise before it turned to extreme annoyance and he had then ignored her as he and his companion had passed by her without another word.

"Messere Mario is looking for you." A thief said, coming up behind her.

Claudia was jolted from her thoughts by his voice and she instinctively reached for her dagger and stopped herself at the last moment. She opened her mouth to tell him that she would be coming soon and then didn't. She stood up and looked down at the row of houses below her. Machiavelli's home was the fifth one. Was the woman there? Was she his wife?

Claudia knew that if she went back without these answers, she wouldn't be able to sleep well at night and be ready for her wedding.

"Tell him I have an urgent task to complete." She said resolutely. The thief nodded and sprinted off leaving her taking deep breaths to calm her wildly beating heart. She had to know who that woman was and what her relationship with Machiavelli was.

She spread her arms and looked up at the sky_. I'm a bird_, she thought_, I can do this_. She looked down at the haystack and felt a shudder run through her. The drop was of a great distance than the ones she had leapt off before. Then she remembered the first time she had performed the leap of faith successfully. Machiavelli had been with her and asked her if she trusted him.

"I do." She said out loud. "I do trust you." She closed her eyes and let herself fall gently into the haystack. Opening her eyes, she looked up at the darkening sky and asked herself again if she really meant to confront Machiavelli about the woman. What if he was still too angry to even open the door for her?

_I need him, _her inner voice told her. _I need him to believe in me._

She got up, dusted off the straw from her clothes and hair and walked down the street, her eyes searching keenly for Machiavelli's house. When she came upon a small house with a reddish door, she stopped and wrung her hands.

What if she really was his wife? Claudia shook those thoughts away and screamed inwardly at her nagging thoughts to stay away from her. She stepped up and raised her hand to knock.

Three knocks later, the door opened and the woman she had seen early in the day with Machiavelli stepped out.

"Hmm?"

Claudia felt a sudden rush of hatred towards her and idly played with the hem of her white robes. Perhaps she should have worn civilian clothes to come visit him, instead of the dusty robes. She looked at the woman before her and took in her dark curls, hazel eyes and full mouth. She was dressed in a purple lacy dress and looked younger than her.

Taking a deep breath she was about to ask for Machiavelli's when she heard his voice.

"Who is it, Marietta?"

The girl shrugged. "She hasn't introduced herself yet."

The door opened wider and Machiavelli came forth. "Claudia! What are you doing here?"

Claudia blinked and wondered if he was now going to ask her to leave. Even if he did, she wasn't going to leave. She was an Auditore and the Auditores never gave up. She ignored the woman and looked at him squarely.

"I have come to speak with you." She said.

"Do come in." Marietta said kindly and stepped away to let her pass. Claudia glanced at Machiavelli who was looking at her curiously. She didn't wait and stepped in without his reply.

Once inside, Claudia found herself in a room where there were bookshelves at every wall. The only furniture in the room was a large work table and three wooden chairs. She had half-expected Machiavelli's house to be one of grandeur considering the way he spoke and carried himself, yet the only evidence of his wealth seemed to be the heavy tomes on his bookshelves.

"Would you like some tea?" Marietta continued to be kind to her and Claudia longed to grab her shoulders and shake her into confessing who she was and what she meant to Machiavelli.

"Si, get us some tea, per favore." Machiavelli answered.

Marietta went into the kitchen and he turned to her. "Has your Uncle sent you? Tell him I plan to sail to Venezia soon."

Claudia had imagined herself being aggressive once she would be face to face with him, but now that she was here all she could remember was telling him that it was none of his concern of what happened to her. And now here she was being a hypocrite and meddling in his private affairs.

"Is it something else? I had sent a message through a thief disclosing the next location of an Assassin seal. It is right here in Firenze." He walked towards his table and started to sift through the papers. "If it is lost, I have that written it out someplace….here." He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to her.

Claudia stared at the paper, but didn't take it. "That was not why I am here."

Machiavelli frowned and put down the sheet of paper. "I thought so. Clearly, you have something of great importance to reveal to me." His voice was mocking and she understood that he was referring to her comment to stay away from her affairs.

Claudia chose to purposely ignore that. "Who is Marietta?" she asked.

"You've come all this way to ask about who Marietta is?" he was teasing her again, but she had resolved to find out about her no matter what.

"I think it's only fair." She shrugged.

"Fair?" he narrowed his gaze.

"You were interested in knowing about Duccio and if he could be trusted." She turned to him and feigned a smile. "I am merely following your footsteps."

She had seen him looking nonchalant before, but now it was as if he was trying to suppress an outburst. He reached for a book and started to angrily flip the pages.

"Careful that you not tear them." Claudia remarked, enjoying teasing him back.

Machiavelli slammed the book on the table and was quiet as Marietta walked in with a tray of cups. "Would you care to stay for dinner?" she asked.

Claudia raised her eyebrow at Machiavelli and wondered if she should annoy him further by accepting the invitation. Then she decided not to and reminded herself that she was here to mend their friendship and not antagonize him.

"I'm afraid I can't." she said and then turned to Marietta. "Are you new here? You don't look Florentine."

Marietta handed her a cup of tea. "Oh, but I was born here. But when I was only five, my family moved to Toscana."

"And now you're here." Claudia sat down across from her and saw from the side of her eye that Machiavelli was seething in anger.

"Si." Marietta handed Machiavelli a cup but he refused and returned to his books. She set down the tray and picked up her own cup and sipped from it. "My family decided to come back here. My Father died last year and my Mother was unwell and I could use a few florins, so I asked Niccolò if I could help him."

Claudia winced when she used his name. "How do you know him?" She turned to look at Machiavelli who was looking infuriated at the way Marietta was revealing everything.

"Niccolò and I were neighbors. My Father knew him." Marietta took another sip and looked thoughtful. "Our families stayed in touch through letters and last year when I received a letter of condolence from Niccolò, I asked if he had anything that I could help him with. He immediately made arrangements to bring my family here and even offered me work."

"That was very kind." Claudia said, sipping from her own cup and trying to hide her emotions from Marietta. She was relieved that they were only friends, but she also felt the jagged nip of jealousy at their friendliness.

"He is." She agreed. "Machiavelli has told me about you in great detail…"

"Marietta!" Machiavelli had finally found his voice. Marietta was so frightened that the cup fell from her fingers and the tea spilled onto her dress.

Claudia put down her cup and immediately took out her handkerchief to help Marietta.

"I apologize for startling you." Machiavelli said. "But there are some papers that I wish you would get for me from my room."

Marietta dabbed vainly at the stain in her dress and then got up. "Si. I'll have to change my dress as well."

Machiavelli nodded and as soon as she left, stood silently.

"That was a wonderful thing you did for her." Claudia said, breaking the silence. "You are a wonderful friend."

"I suppose so."

Claudia squeezed her hands together. Now was the time to let go of her pride and tell him how she really felt. "I…I really missed…." She bit her lip and then continued. "I was hoping we could become friends again."

Machiavelli looked astounded. "I wasn't aware we had stopped being friends."

"After the argument we had….and then you didn't speak to me for quite a few days, I thought perhaps…"

Machiavelli frowned at her. "Friends argue, Claudia. It doesn't mean that they are at loggerheads forever. You were busy with your….wedding, and I wanted to stay out of the way."

Claudia felt her throat tightening again. She wanted to tell him that she didn't want to marry Duccio, but now was not the time to bring him into her troubles. He had helped her enough and she had done nothing in return. "I wish you wouldn't." she said quietly.

None of them spoke for several minutes and Claudia started to wonder if she should leave when a thought occurred to her. "Will you come to the wedding?"

Machiavelli was standing next to a chair and she saw his hand tighten on it and then he turned away from her so that she couldn't see what he was thinking. "I don't know."

"Why not?" she persisted.

"Because…" he began sharply and then rubbed his forehead. "I may have some important work to complete."

"Even more important than me?" she asked.

Machiavelli turned around, looking shocked. "No." he replied and then came to her and took her hand. "There is nothing more important than you." He placed a gentle kiss on her hand and Claudia smiled at him.

"Then you will come?"

"For you, I shall try." He replied.


	31. Chapter 31

Careful, she kept telling herself. The beam was narrow and if she fell, she would unquestionably break every bone in her body.

Her left foot almost slipped and her breath caught in her throat. She closed her eyes and willed herself to think of anything else but the dangerous height.

The wedding! Yes, she could think of the wedding while she walked on the beams of the Il Duomo in search of another Assassin seal. The preparations had been going well and almost everyone in the Assassin guild had lent a helping hand. There were flowers to be gathered, feasts to be prepared, officials to be notified and their house to be decorated.

Everyone had been helping, even Machiavelli. She had seen him twice and spoken to him not even once. While she was being shown fabrics for the different rituals, Machiavelli was helping Duccio move chairs. She had wanted to step away from all this chaos and just talk, but something or the other kept coming up. There were times she wondered if Machiavelli had even wanted to speak to her if there had been a chance. Every one of his visits had consisted of him standing in the corner looking glum and annoyed.

It was Duccio who kept dragging him to help him or else Machiavelli would have just blended in with the crowd. She couldn't understand why he still seemed so angry with her until yesterday, when as her Mother was speaking to her about a housewife's duties, that she had turned and saw him staring at her.

That was the first time she had seen him looking completely lost and hesitant. It was as if he was scared of something. It was so haunting a look that it had left her speechless and motionless. She kept looking at him and he at her, until suddenly he had turned sharply and walked out of the house in a huff.

She had wanted to go after him and ask him what was wrong, but something inside her was still trying to figure out the strange feeling that had come over her. For that brief moment, when he had been staring at her, she had felt like she knew what was wrong, but now that he had left, the feeling had been replaced by emptiness.

"Focus!" Claudia scolded herself. She was still balancing herself on the narrow beam and she had to time her jump right and grab the jutting rod. Holding her breath, she made her way and then jumped. The second her hands grabbed the rod, she let out her breath and swung onto the ledge. La Volpe would be so proud that she had been working on her acrobatic skills. And even Machiavelli.

She readied herself to make another jump across to the platform and cleared her mind. But the thoughts returned. She was getting married tomorrow and wondered if Machiavelli would attend considering his current post with the Medici.

Would he be too busy for her? Claudia jumped across and uttered a cry when her hand slipped off the platform. Something inside her filled up with energy and she strengthened her hold with her other hand. Her breath was still cold and lost as she clambered up the platform. She had slipped and almost died.

Claudia pushed herself back and took deep breaths as her heart thudded loudly in her chest. She could hear her own heartbeat loud in her ears. And then to her surprise, she burst out crying. Her sobs reverberated all around her and she could do nothing but clutch a wooden crate and cry.

When the tears finally stopped flowing and she was able to catch her breath, she gazed at the ladder in front of her. This was the end of her trial. On the top was where the tomb and the seal would be, but she made no move to get up.

She bit her lip as her thoughts came back to nag her. She was getting married tomorrow. Machiavelli may not come. After her wedding, Duccio might not want her to meet him so often. Machiavelli was spending too much time with Marietta.

"Stop!" she scolded herself again and put her hands on her ears. She pushed away at those thoughts and climbed up the ladder. She was an Assassin now, not a bride and not a friend. At least at the moment.

"You were right! There is a faint engraving behind this seal." Leonardo told her. He had come to Firenze to pick up some of his leftover equipment and she was glad he had for she needed his expertise on the seals.

Claudia pulled out a chair and sat down, staring at the paintbrushes strewn across the table.

"I'll find out what's written soon." Leonardo told her, and then paused. "You seem a bit upset. Has he been annoying you already?"

"No." Claudia said. "It's just that I haven't gotten the time to speak to him recently." She traced her fingers around a blotch of dark blue paint and then gingerly touched it to find it was dried. "He seems angry with me and I can't understand why. I mean, I did argue with him, but still…"

Claudia rested her chin on her crossed arms. "He's always so busy."

"He will find the time after the wedding." Leonardo said helpfully.

"Who knows? He'll probably be travelling again. With Marietta!" Claudia made a face.

Leonardo frowned. "That is strange. Isn't Marietta Machiavelli's friend?"

"Si, but she's also working with him. He was kind enough to offer her work." Claudia tapped her foot restlessly. "It's just…I don't know how to explain this…but I thought we had become good friends, and now it is as if we are estranged."

Leonardo sat down across her and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "So… er…I'm a bit confused here. Who are we talking about?"

"Machiavelli!" Claudia said, not keeping the annoyance out of her voice. "He's the one who has been acting so strangely ever since I have been engaged. Why who did you…oh." Claudia felt her face get so hot that it tingled and she put her hands on her cheeks.

"Si, I was asking you about Duccio, the man you are about to marry." Leonardo said.

They sat in silence for a few moments and Claudia wondered why she should feel so embarrassed by this situation. Should she have been talking about Duccio? She then realized in horror that she had never spoken about Duccio, not even with her Mother.

"So Machiavelli has been acting oddly since you were engaged?" Leonardo asked.

Claudia bit the inside of her lip and looked away. "I should be going."

"Certo." Leonardo hastily got up and knocked his books over. "Maledizione! Come maldestro di me!"

Claudia immediately bent over and picked up the books. "I've got it. Could you make out the engravings?"

Leonardo used a clean paintbrush and used it gently on the back of the seal. "Some of the letters have been erased by time, but I believe it says 'Toscana'. It says 'Torre…er..uh…Gro…os...?"

"Torre Grossa!" Claudia exclaimed. "I was in Toscana some time back and I think I did see a tower by that name."

"Why would it be engraved here?" Leonardo asked and scratched his cheek. "Also, the seal looks a lot older than the engraving. So whoever wrote this on the seal…"

"Is actually helping us find the next one." Claudia finished. "The next seal must be there."

Leonardo handed her over the seal. "That is an excellent deduction. When will you retrieve it?"

"Right away!" Claudia said excitedly and then blinked. "I mean, after the wedding. A week after maybe."

Leonardo put his hand on her shoulder. "See you tomorrow then."

Claudia walked towards the door and slipped the seal in a small satchel tied around her waist.

"Oh and Claudia!"

She turned around and Leonardo smiled at her. "Buona Fortuna." He said bowing his head.

Claudia decided that she wouldn't think of anything on the way back home. She had been careless today and had slipped in the Duomo and then made a fool of herself in front of Leonardo by talking about Machiavelli instead of Duccio.

She had to start accepting Duccio if she were to have a successful marriage. She may not love him, but she would have to honor the vows she would take tomorrow. She took a deep breath and caught the faint aroma of freshly baked bread and spices.

Claudia smiled at the lute players performing on the streets and even stopped a moment to hear their music.

"_Somewhere on a rooftop, there is a lover who is trying to meet his love. But the Father does not care for him, so he throws him of the rooftops."_

Claudia hid a smile and walked away. The lute players were truly awful over here, but they had managed to make her laugh and forget everything even for just a moment.

Today is my day, she told herself. She looked at the sky and frowned when she saw that the sun had set. "This evening is all mine, then." She told herself out loud. Her wedding and Duccio were thoughts she could deal with when she got home, but the next few hours, she would spend doing what she wanted.

She roamed through the markets, looking at the fabrics but not buying them. Then she headed to the Blacksmiths and bought a new dagger along with a few extra throw knives. Finally, content with her purchases, she made her way back home, feeling lighter and renewed.

It was while she was sticking the new throw knives into her belt, when she felt a slight tug and push. She looked up annoyed at a tall bearded man with green eyes. He was dressed in a green shirt and black pants and immediately took off in the other direction.

Claudia frowned at him and then looked down at herself. Something was wrong. Something was missing. She checked her belt and saw the money pouch was still intact as well as her weapons. She was about to heave a sigh of relief when her hand moved towards the satchel that had held the Assassin seal.

"Oh no!" she moaned. She looked down and all around her and then realized what had happened. Without another second, she ran in the direction she had seen the thief run.

"Bastardo!" she muttered under her breath and pushed herself harder. She had to catch him before he disappeared.

Up ahead she saw the man dressed in green climb up a roof and Claudia grunted. He was fast, but she had been trained well. She quickly scrambled up a roof and pulled herself on a trellis. Today morning she had almost slipped in Il Duomo, but right now she could feel her blood pumping in her veins that was assurance enough that she would not fail.

He jumped to the adjoining roof and without missing a beat, she jumped right behind him. The throw knives would come handy after all. She pulled one out and aimed at his right calf. The thief stumbled as she threw the knife and he let out a cry as he fell on the roof tiles.

"Give it back, bastardo!" she said, laying her palm open.

The thief snarled at her and tried to get up and hop, but Claudia grabbed his arm, twisted it and then put her own arm around his neck. "Now!" she commanded.

The thief struggled in her grip and as his shirt shifted, she saw a mark on his shoulder. Claudia pulled down the collar and gasped. "Templar!"

"Let me go, Assassino!" he cried.

"What do you want with this?" she demanded to know.

"We want to find out what secret it holds." The thief struggled and almost managed to get away from her, but Claudia tightened her grip on his neck. She had no choice. If she let him go, he was bound to repeat this offense.

She extended her Hidden Blade and let it stab him in the neck. "Requiescat in pace." She whispered and lay him down. She took the seal from his pocket, put it in her satchel and let herself fall from the roof and into the haystack below.

As the cries overhead announced that an unidentified dead body had been found, she retracted her hidden blades and walked away in the shadows.


	32. Chapter 32

Her Mother had helped her wash her hair and had made her sit in front of a mirror. "Tomorrow is a big day." She told her. Her voice was trembling as if she was trying hard not to cry in front of her daughter. "Tomorrow you won't be my piccina anymore but a grown woman- someone's wife."

Claudia looked down at her hands on her lap and said nothing. Outside, it was getting darker and the full moon shone through the window. The candles lit around the room did nothing to soothe the waves of emotions she was feeling. She wanted to turn around, throw the brush out of her Mother's hands and then wrap her arms around her Mother's waist and cry.

She was getting married and her Father wasn't there to give her away. She was going to belong to another family and her Brothers weren't there to tease her but then promise her that they would always be there for her. Would Machiavelli come at least?

Her Mother stopped brushing her hair and sighed.

"Is something the matter?" Claudia asked.

"No. No, I was just wondering about the day I married your Father." Maria smiled then; a smile Claudia hadn't seen on her Mother's face before. "He was so charming and so handsome. The day I met him in my bakery was the day I decided I would marry only him and have his kids." Her Mother blushed and giggled.

Claudia, despite the stormy emotions within her, smiled with her. "You owned a bakery."

"I forced my parents to let me!" Her Mother laughed and then sighed happily. "If they hadn't, I would have never met your Father."

"You miss him, don't you?" Claudia said and then regretted it. What if her Mother was sad again?

Maria bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "Your Mother is not as fragile as you think, piccina." She said. "No need to treat me like a fragile doll."

"I wasn't…." Claudia hesitated and then looked down at her hands again. She looked at her ring finger and realized that tomorrow she would be wearing a wedding ring on it.

"I am stronger than you think and so was your Father." Her Mother picked up the brush and picked up her long hair. "Si, I do miss him every day. I miss waking up next to him, I miss talking to him, I miss loving him and I miss keeping secrets with him."

"Secrets? You mean Father being an Assassin."

"And me too!"

"What?" Claudia asked.

Her Mother smoothed her hair and then let her hair fall down. "Si, I became an Assassin too, to help your Father. Sometimes I think I forced the Assassins to make me on too." She joked. "In all seriousness, it was our secret that we wanted to keep away from our children until they were old enough to understand. As soon as you all were born, I spent more time being a Mother than an Assassin. Perhaps that is why you all never doubted me."

Claudia nodded. Her parents had tried so hard to keep that a secret and what had been the result? She wondered if it had been easier if they had just told them. She had heard that Machiavelli had been trained at an early age to become an Assassin. What kind of childhood must he have led? The end result was that although he was intelligent and fearless, he also lacked the trust in other people. If he had trust, then he would have told her everything about him and not hidden important truths from the Assassins like the Medici being alive.

"Daydreaming?" Her Mother asked.

"I was wondering about your married life." Claudia lied. She was thinking about Machiavelli again and it was irking her. Why couldn't she concentrate on something else?

"As long as you and your husband trust each other, you have nothing to fear." Her Mother advised and made her stand up. "If you and Duccio share your secrets, you too will find love and harmony existing in your marriage. You did tell him about your heritage?"

Claudia bit her lip and looked away. She had meant to, but something inside her was screaming that Duccio would not be able to handle the truth. And then he wouldn't marry her.

"I did. A little bit." She lied, when her Mother looked at her anxiously.

"And what did he say?"

Claudia swallowed. "He…he wanted more time to understand all this. But he did say he wanted to marry me."

Her Mother leaned over and kissed her forehead. "You cannot imagine how worried I was. Duccio is going to be your husband. You have to tell him about this, and I am happy that you did."

Claudia hugged her Mother and wiped away a tear that had rolled down her cheek.

"Go to bed now." Her Mother said. "You need your rest for tomorrow."

Claudia stepped back and nodded. "Buona Notte, Madre."

"Buona Notte." Her Mother left the room and Claudia went to sit on her bed.

She should sleep now and put her thoughts to rest, but her Mother's words kept repeating in her head. She had to tell Duccio. If she was ever to make her marriage successful, she would have to tell him.

Claudia stared at her reflection. She was dressed in a long white gown and her hair was open. She would have to tie up her hair, change into her dress and then leave.

"No." she said. If she did any of those things, it would take time and that would give her thoughts an excuse to tell her to stay and let Duccio marry her. She could tell him after they were married and it was safe. He couldn't break the marriage then and her Mother would not be heart-broken and go into a shock that would result in ten years going by where she wouldn't utter a word.

Claudia opened the window, looked at the full moon, and jumped out. No, the voice in her head was wrong. Her Mother was strong and Duccio was not a coward anymore. He would stay and her marriage was going to work. And then there would come a day when she would be in love with him. But all that would come if the foundation was based on truth.

She crept downstairs and paused in front of Duccio's room. The voice in her head started to speak, but Claudia didn't listen to it and pushed open the door.

"Duccio…" she gasped.

Duccio was by at his bed with an open box. "C-Claudia." He looked startled.

Claudia started to talk when she noticed Duccio holding a folded shirt in his hands. Her eyes travelled to the open box full of his clothes and then turned to look around the room. His cupboards were empty.

"What is going on?" she asked.

Duccio dropped the shirt in the trunk and gave her a nervous smile. "N-nothing mio caro. I was j-just...n-nothing…"

Claudia closed the door behind her. "Are you…running away?"

"Don't kill me!" Duccio cried and raised his hands. "I will do what you say, but don't kill me!"

"What are you talking about?" Claudia asked.

"I know who you are. Who you and your Mother and…your whole family is."

Claudia put her hand on her mouth. "I…I meant to tell you. How did you…?"

"I was looking for you in the evening." Duccio cowered near his bed. "Then I saw you in the market and was about to call for you when you took off and I saw you climbing up roofs. Roofs! Then I ran to call the guards because I thought you were being robbed, but then I saw you from across and you stabbed him. You killed him! I ran home."

Duccio was sweating now and trembling in fear. Claudia found she only felt pity for him and nothing more.

"I thought I had been dreaming and was going to talk to you when I overheard you and your Mother talking." Duccio was almost in tears now. "Assassins! You all are…were…Assassins?"

"Duccio, we fight for the betterment of the people. For their freedom!" Claudia said. "The men who killed my family were Templars who…"

"I don't want to know." Duccio said and covered his ears. He then closed the trunk and carried it in his arms. "Stay here. Don't stay here. Burn this house down, but…stay away from me!"

Claudia started to grab his arm, but Duccio wriggled away, opened the door and ran away.

Claudia blinked at the empty room around her and then pulled herself together. She had to go after him. Pushing herself, she ran as fast as she could out of the house. She paused on the street, looking around her and wondering which direction he had taken when she heard the bell of a ship.

"No!" she gasped. She ran as fast as she could towards the docks and stopped when the men pulled up the planks. On the ship, from afar, she spotted Duccio climbing up the deck, hugging the small chest of his clothes.

She walked towards the docks and then stopped again. Duccio was running away and wasn't going to marry her. Claudia put her arms around her as the ship started to drift. A voice so strong in her head, told her that she was finally free and that she would have to let Duccio go in order for her to be happy.

The smaller voice started to remind her about her Mother's happiness and she subdued it forcefully. It returned and Claudia tried to move her legs and jump into the water to go after the ship, but she stood immobilized by the bigger stronger voice.

When the ship had sailed further away, she turned around and walked towards a booth. "Where was that ship headed?" she asked in a wooden voice.

"That ship?" The man asked. "It is headed for Roma."

Claudia thanked the man and walked away, feeling every muscle in her body stiffening. This had gone horribly wrong, the smaller voice told her. She should have stopped him.

Claudia walked aimlessly down the streets and then looked up at the dark sky. Her eyes travelled to Il Duomo and she walked towards it and then after a little while, ran towards it.


	33. Chapter 33

The sky was lightening and the dark was turning a darkish-blue, and then azure, until it was lighter and lighter. Day had broken, her tired mind told her.

Claudia wrapped her arms around her ankles and took a glimpse down. She was high up on top of the Il Duomo and sitting on the ledge behind the small steeples. This was where she would hide today so that no one would find her.

The wind brushed at her face and dried the tears she had cried all night. Now all she felt was silence. Both voices in her head had stopped talking and her tired prickly muscles wouldn't let her sleep. All she could do was stare down at the empty streets that were quickly filling up with workmen and then marketers.

She sniffed as the wind became cooler and her throat started to feel dry and itchy. She laid her chin on her knees and hugged her legs tighter.

"I thought I would find you here." A voice said and Claudia jumped and tried to hide herself in the shadows, but it was of no use. Machiavelli had seen her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Claudia kept her head bowed so that he wouldn't see her red puffy eyes. What a state she must look in? Her white gown now had dust stains on them and her brushed hair was now all tousled. She wouldn't answer him. Perhaps if she continued to avoid him, he would leave her.

"Claudia, you have some strange hiding places. The docks in Venezia and Il Duomo in Firenze. I can only hope you haven't taken a liking to the towers in San Gimignano." He joked.

She moved further into the shadows as Machiavelli came towards her. "Why are you here? Everyone is looking for you. And Duccio. Your Mother was worried you both had eloped."

Claudia pressed her lips together. The temptation to cry her heart out was too great. Machiavelli knelt before her. "Claudia, tell me what is wrong. Your silence is frightening me."

Claudia looked up at him. "I…he…" she started to cry and hated herself for throwing all her problems at him again. "He found out." She sobbed.

"What? You mean.,.."

"You were right!" she told him. "Mother was right. I should have told him, but he found out instead and ran away."

"He ran away?"

"Roma. He got onto a ship to Roma. And I…." Claudia wiped furiously at her tears. "I didn't stop him! I didn't want to! I can't believe I thought of myself instead of my family."

Machiavelli watched her in silence and then sat next to her. He was looking far away and appeared to be in shock.

Claudia wiped her nose with the sleeve of her dress. "I can't go home. I can't face her. She would be devastated. The one thing that she needed from me, and I couldn't even give her that."

"Your Mother is strong." He said calmly.

"She is as strong as I let her be." Claudia said. "If I am weak then she would be too. I disappointed her. I disappointed Petruccio. They wanted me to get married. This was Petruccio's dying wish and my Mother…that was the one thing she wanted for me. And I've disappointed them."

"Claudia…"

But she was edging towards crying again. "I can't lose her again. I just can't lose anyone anymore." She could feel her hands trembling and her whole body felt cold. "They all wanted me to be married. My Mother's happiness depends on me being married even more so than being an Assassin. And what did I do?" She could no longer look at him. Her anguish was tearing her apart and all she could see was the face of her Mother as she would find out that her daughter would not be married.

"I let him go." She kept saying. "I wanted him to get out of my life. For two years, I tried to get used to him, I really did. But when he got on that ship, I wanted nothing more than to never see him again. I thought of myself and myself only."

"Did they want you to marry Duccio?" he asked.

"He wanted to marry me." Claudia replied; finally glad to get her tears under control. "That's what mattered to my Mother. I can't even get married for the sake of my Mother. I can never make her happy. If my Brothers were alive they would have gone out of their way for her, but me….I'm selfish."

Machiavelli got up and offered her his hand. "Get up." He said.

"I don't want to. I'm not going." Claudia brought her knees closer to her chin. "She would be better off without me. She's invited half the people in the city and now my Mother would have to bear the humiliation, just because of me. I'm nothing but a disappointment to her"

"No you're not." Machiavelli said. "Now get up. Everything will be fine, I promise you that. Trust me."

Claudia looked up at him and stretched her legs. He had uttered the two words that for some reason gave her hope and made her want to forget everything and believe him. Her legs pushed her up and she looked at him uncertainly.

"But Mother…"

"Trust me." He repeated. He jumped down of the lower roof and waited for her. Claudia looked down at him and jumped down without hesitation. As they carefully made their way down, Claudia could feel her heart beating loudly. The minute her feet touched the ground, her anxiety returned and she felt her tears returning.

Machiavelli took her hand and led her down the street towards the house. They walked in silence and Claudia felt some of her fear ebbing away under his touch. She could feel the warmth of all his fingers on her hand. She glanced at him and saw him walking resolutely and majestically.

Whatever was going to happen now, all she could find solace in was that he would be there with her.

They had reached the house and Claudia paused. When Machiavelli turned around she shook her head. She couldn't face her Mother. Her shame clamored over at her and she wished she could have changed everything about last night- from killing the thief to letting Duccio run away. She would change it all.

Then a voice in her head finally woke up. But how could she change Duccio? He would have found out eventually and even if they had gotten married and he had found out later that she was an Assassin, he would have still run and then what? Why did Duccio have to be such a coward? Why, despite everything that was going to happen, did she feel only relief that Duccio was gone when she should feel ashamed for being selfish?

She shook her head again, her tears ready to fall again. He smiled and urged her on. Gently pulling on her hand, he led her inside and Claudia bit her lip when she saw her Mother sitting on a chair.

"Claudia! Where have you been? Do you know how worried we all were?"

Claudia looked around the room and saw her Uncle standing in the corner with crossed arms and La Volpe speaking to his thieves.

She wanted to tell them what happened, but her throat tightened and she felt as if she were being strangled by her own emotions.

Machiavelli went over to her Mother and knelt down, never leaving her hand.

"I have something to ask you." He said seriously.

"Niccolò, what is going on? Where is Duccio?"

Machiavelli took her Mother's hand in his. "There is something I wish to ask you."

"What is it?" Her Mother asked impatiently. "There isn't much time left. Once Duccio arrives, we must leave…"

"I would like your permission to marry Claudia."

Claudia gasped and watched her expressions reflected on her Mother's face.

"What? Why? I mean…she is engaged to marry Duccio." She cried in surprise. "The wedding…it's today!"

She could feel everyone's eyes on them now. Uncle Mario stepped forward. "Will you both explain what is going on?"

Claudia could barely open her mouth anymore. Her mind was whirling now. Machiavelli wanted to marry her?

Her Mother searched her face, then down at the way Machiavelli was still holding Claudia's hand, and then stood up. Machiavelli still stayed in his position.

Her Mother clasped her hands and then started to nod. Claudia could see that her Mother was trying to make sense of what could have transpired, although Claudia wasn't sure she knew what was happening. "Si. You have my permission."

"What?" La Volpe asked in amazement. "How can she marry this man?"

Maria put up her hand. "The decision has been made. If Niccolò and Claudia want to get married, then I shall not stand in their way."

"Then the marriage shall take place right now?" Uncle Mario asked excitedly.

"If I have your permission as well." Machiavelli said, getting up. "And if you would perform the ritual too."

Uncle Mario's face immediately brightened and he slapped Machiavelli's back. "I will." He bellowed in happiness.

Claudia watched everyone smiling and looking pleased and noticed that the only ones in the room not sharing in this happiness was her, and one look at Machiavelli's sudden solemn expression showed that neither was he.


	34. Chapter 34

She was being dressed in the gown her Mother had made for her and her hair was being combed and draped over her shoulder. There was so much numbness inside her that she was frozen. Her eyes could only look at her reflection and her muscles had stiffened. All she was capable now was slowly breathing.

And then she was ushered outside and led inside a large hall. She was only dimly aware of the hundreds of candles lit around her and the flowers and flag banners hanging from the walls. Everything was deep red and had gold embroiders on them. Even Machiavelli's coat.

He was standing by the priest and she quickly looked away and then down at her feet, willing them to stop and turn the other way. But the voice that made that command was tired. The lack of sleep and food in the past hours had left her feeling completely fatigued and she was glad to finally stop and stand.

The voices around her were muffled and the only sound she heard clearly was of her own heartbeat. Then she caught a movement and saw her Uncle come stand by her with a ring. When she did look at him, she blinked in surprise at the happiness glowing on her Uncle's face.

She glimpsed at Machiavelli who appeared to be as stunned as her, as he stood blankly. Looking away quickly again, she breathed slowly as her Uncle placed her hand in Machiavelli's. The warmth of his hands relieved her of some of the numbness, but her head was still foggy. His hand was firm and just for a second, she had felt as if whatever was going on was right and that thought eased the stiffness of her shoulders.

Then the priest was speaking to her, but again she couldn't make out the words, only her own heartbeat in her ears.

After that, Machiavelli was slipping a ring on her finger and like a bolt, she was reminded painfully of how she was supposed to marry Duccio today and that he was going to be the one to place this ring on her finger.

She opened her mouth to say that and then realized it would be such an odd thing to say. Her eyes met Machiavelli's and she saw the merest hesitation in them on his otherwise expressionless face.

Then the ceremony was over and people were shouting congratulations and her Mother had come to embrace her.

In the corner she saw La Volpe sulking and Uncle Mario heading towards him. Near the front row of seats, she spotted Bartolomeo with his wife and saw them whispering something. Her eyes spotted a thief leaving them and heading towards La Volpe, a grim expression on his face.

Something was going on, but she was unable to move as her Mother caught her arm and led her towards the dining room where there was a large table laden with food. People were already eating and holding up glasses to commemorate the newlywed couple.

She noticed then that Machiavelli was not at her side and when she turned her head, saw him discussing something with a thief. It was the very thief she had seen him with before too.

"You haven't eaten anything." Her Mother said.

"I am not hungry." She mumbled.

Her Mother put a hand on her cheek. "Piccina, you are married now. You should be happy."

Claudia blinked at her Mother. "Are you?"

Her Mother tried to smile, then gave up and Claudia saw the worry etched in her features. "Are you going to tell me why Machiavelli is marrying you instead of Duccio? Is it…." Her Mother hesitated. "Are you…taken with him?"

She couldn't answer then, not understanding what she was supposed to think of Machiavelli now that he was her husband. They would have to discuss this change in their relationship, but right now, they had to get through this function. She stared at her Mother knowing that she would have to tell her what had exactly happened with Duccio.

Her Mother sighed. "If you and Niccolò wanted to get married, you both should have come to us a long time ago." She said. "You've let poor Duccio wait for two whole years, just so you could cancel the wedding with him."

Claudia stared at the ring on her finger, still finding it hard to believe she was married to Machiavelli. "Mother…I…Duccio ran away when he found out I was an Assassin."

"What?" Her Mother looked shocked.

Claudia turned to look at her Uncle and instead saw Machiavelli striding towards the door. She then saw him open the door and without another glance, walk out.

"Mother, I must…"

"Claudia, why didn't you tell me Duccio had run away? That luridi codardo! I thought you and Niccolò were in love and…. I've made such a terrible assumption."

"Madre, I must go."

But her Mother caught her hand. "Niccolò was saving your honor, but you both should have come and told me."

Claudia slipped her hand from her Mother's and walked over to her Uncle. "What is going on?" she asked him.

Uncle Mario shook his head sadly. "The Doge of Venezia has been killed and Marco Barbarigo has taken his place."

"Oh!" Claudia said and now understood why Machiavelli had left with such urgency. "So he is related to Emilio Barbarigo? My next target and the one person who can give us Rodrigo's whereabouts?"

"Cousins." Her Uncle said.

La Volpe rolled his eyes. "Seems like a certain someone was supposed to have taken care of this and informed us beforehand." He muttered angrily.

"La Volpe!" Her Uncle retorted.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Never mind that, Claudia. It is your wedding day. Go and have fun. The guests must be waiting to congratulate the couple personally." He said and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He just walked out the door." She said, more to herself than them.

"Who?" Her Uncle said. "Niccolò?" He looked around the room and grimaced. "There is a ship leaving for Venezia in a few minutes, but I did tell him to take the one later in the evening with you."

Without waiting for another word, she turned around and walked out the door.

With firm quick strides, she walked out in search of Machiavelli and saw him boarding a ship in the distance. She gasped and started to run as the ship started to sail away. Once she reached the docks, a thief came before her and handed her over a letter.

"I was just coming to find you." He said cheerfully. "Here, Ser Machiavelli has asked me to give this to you."

Claudia took the letter slowly and looked at Machiavelli standing on the deck on the now moving ship. She opened the letter and saw words telling her how he was going to Venezia and would be writing to her soon.

She gazed at for several seconds, trying to understand and believe she was reading what she was reading. Looking up, she saw Machiavelli walking towards the end of the deck and watching her.

Claudia crumpled the letter, threw it into the water and walked back to the hall.


	35. Chapter 35

Claudia closed her eyes, concentrated on the anger burning inside her and tried to suppress it. But unfortunately, it was further ignited when she touched the ring on her finger.

She snapped open her eyes, and punched hard at the dummy before her. The dummy's head tore open and the straw scattered all over her and the ground.

She blew at the straw impatiently and then took her stance again. Her Uncle would be proud. In the past month, she had been training to fist-fight and had already taken down three heavy-built mercenaries.

"_How did you do that?" _a disgruntled mercenary had asked her, picking himself up from the ground.

"_I used my head more than my muscles." _She had replied, then spun around and kicked him hard in the shins and when he had doubled over, she had punched him in the face.

Claudia had never felt such a rush before and she preferred fighting with her fists more than a sword now although her Uncle had reminded her to depend on her weapons more.

She kicked the dummy in front of her and heard a loud crack, before the wood supporting it, broke into two.

"You've damaged yet another one. "Leonardo said, coming up behind her.

Claudia bit her lip and felt guilty. "Mi dispiace if I have disturbed you."

"I am taking a break." Leonardo said.

Claudia turned around and put up her fists again. "Want to see me tear this dummy's head off?"

"So much aggression!" Leonardo replied.

"Assassins need to be aggressive." She said and started to punch the dummy when Leonardo caught her fist.

"Easy. This is the last one and I'll need you to practice something else on it." He said and then frowned. "It's been a month since you've come to Venezia. There is so much to see here and so much to revel in. The Carnivale is opening. Perhaps you should go tonight."

Claudia wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. "I am not here to sightsee, Leonardo."

"Si, I do understand that."

Claudia swallowed and let out a frustrated sigh. It had been a month since she had been here and she had still not heard from Machiavelli- her husband. It still felt odd to even think that but the truth was that they were married and he had not made any attempt to contact her when she had arrived here especially when there was so much to discuss about the new status of their relationship.

After he had left, her Mother had more questions about her marriage and Claudia had no answers to give.

"_Do you both even like each other?" _Her Mother had been almost frantic and Claudia, fearing her Mother might become ill for being so upset, decided to lie.

"_Si, Madre." She had said. "Things have become a bit complicated but Machiavelli and I have sorted this out. I trust him. And so should you."_

Her Mother had been comforted if not fully convinced. Nevertheless, she didn't pursue the matter with her or didn't find the time to. It was the latter, Claudia decided. The Assassins in Venezia had suddenly become too busy after the Doge had died and they could use all the help they could get.

But the question was, where was Machiavelli?

Was he even in Venezia or off somewhere else…with Marietta. Claudia punched at the dummy and it broke with such force that the wooden shards flew and hit the wall.

"Claudia." Leonardo said disappointed. "Ah, never mind, I'll have my assistant make a few more for you to destroy."

"I cannot help it." Claudia almost wailed and then composed herself quickly before Leonardo started to ask her why she was so upset. "I need the practice."

"You need to speak to your husband." Leonardo told her.

"He needs to talk to me. He's the one who has been avoiding me!" Claudia complained.

"I can never understand both of you. You both are so egoistic."

"I am not!" Claudia gasped. "I didn't walk away on the day of our wedding. I didn't board a ship and write a two line letter explaining nothing. He did! It's his fault!"

"Perhaps he was…"

"Do not make excuses for him, Leonardo!" Claudia said, getting annoyed. "I didn't ask him to marry me, he did. Actually, he asked my Mother if he could marry me….still! He should have, I don't know what he should have done." Claudia put her hand on her forehead and rubbed the headache that was starting to form.

"So you're angry that he married you?" Leonardo was looking so innocent and confused that Claudia burst out laughing.

"Mi dispiace." She laughed and then bit her lip. "No, I'm not angry he married me. Can you keep a secret?"

"Si." Leonardo said sincerely.

Claudia looked at the ring on her finger. "You cannot tell anyone."

"I won't."

"I am actually glad that it wasn't Duccio." She uttered the name so softly; half hoping that Leonardo hadn't heard it while feeling liberated to speak the truth.

"Are you happy it was Niccolò?" Leonardo asked, his tone slightly teasing.

Claudia knew she was blushing as her face grew warmer. "I trust him." She said. "I'm angry with him, but I trust him." She took Leonardo's hands in hers. "You promised you won't tell anyone."

"I will not. It is a secret between friends." Leonardo kissed her hand and got up. He was walking back into his studio when a thought occurred to her and Claudia ran behind him.

"And it doesn't mean you can paint it or show it in any other form of art." She told him.

"But the story is so inspirational!" Leonardo said. "A woman, abandoned by a stronzo, marries a sensible man." Leonardo said excitedly.

"No, Leonardo!" Claudia told him.

"I have the right colors of the dress you had been wearing on the day of your wedding." Leonardo said, picking up his easel.

Claudia realized that the artist was joking and burst out laughing. "No Leonardo. Never!"

"Signora." A thief said, jumping down from the opposite house and into the practice field. "You are being asked at La Rosa Della Virtu."

"What? Why?" Claudia asked.

"Antonio said he has some information for you." The thief said idly and looked about him at the ripped dummies and the heaps of straw strewn everywhere.

"Ah, give Sister Teodora my regards." Leonardo told her.

"Sister? Oh, oh….I thought it…never mind. Then it's a church I am to go to?"

The thief raised an eyebrow at her and then glanced at Leonardo as if searching for help.

"Uh…it is not a church." Leonardo said and the thief nodded quickly.

Claudia smiled. "Now I am confused."

Leonardo put an arm around her shoulders and led her towards the gate. "She has er…different beliefs." He said. "She believes that men should know how to love in order to reach salvation."

"Love?" Claudia asked and then sighed. "Si figuri. I will go see her. The address?" she asked the thief.

The thief told her and Claudia with a wave at Leonardo, walked down the streets in search of a brothel.

She didn't know what to think and found she was actually nervous at the prospect of entering a place she had never gone to and never wanted to. But from what she had seen in the past years was that the thieves and courtesans were an integral part of the Order and despite their transgressions, were actually very helpful.

As the streets got darker and narrower, Claudia knew she was arriving at her destination. Before her, she spotted a building, adorned with red drapes and flowers. The door opened and an inebriated man stumbled out, sputtering obscenities at a courtesan who responded in the same manner.

Claudia cringed at the string of obscenities that the courtesan spat at that man before spitting on him and then almost jumped as the door was slammed shut. The man picked himself up and walked down the street, still mumbling to himself.

She clenched her fists and made her way to the building, preparing herself for a display of vulgarity and shambles. But when she opened the door, she was surprised to step in a well lit room decorated finely. Red curtains hung from the newly washed windows, flowers adorned every table and wall and the floor was covered in carpets that in the candlelight looked golden.

The sweet smell of rose water, wafted in the air that succeeded in overpowering the stench of liquor and sweat.

Claudia wrinkled her nose in disgust as she saw a skinny sweaty man, stroke the leg of a courtesan who was laughing at something he was saying. In the corner, she saw more men and courtesans, laughing and groping one another.

"Claudia!" Antonio said coming from the next room. He had a courtesan in each arm and went to sit by the window with them.

With a heavy frown, she followed him and then refused his invitation to sit on the sofa. "I was under the impression that I was called for some important work." She said indignantly.

"It is it is." Antonio said and kissed both the courtesans on their cheeks. "It is to do with the new Doge. We have a plan to eliminate him."

"The Doge?" Claudia asked. "Wait, we?"

"Si." A woman said, coming up behind her. She was dressed like a nun although her dress had a deep neckline and accentuated her waist well. "Sister Teodora."

"Oh." Claudia said in a small voice. "Leonardo has told me about you."

"I assumed he would." She replied cryptically. "Come, we must head to the other room where the others are waiting."

"The others?" Claudia asked. Was her Uncle here too? If so, then it would be convenient for she had managed to procure the third Assassin seal and her Uncle could take it back with him to Monteriggioni.

Sister Teodora was leading them to a quiet room in the back when Claudia heard a courtesan coming out from one of the rooms.

"Mi sei mancato molto." She said in a canorous voice.

"Really?" a man's voice said in disbelief.

"You really keep me waiting." She flirted.

They stepped through the curtains and Claudia felt her mouth drop open. Walking out of a very private room was Machiavelli with a courtesan who had wrapped her arms around his waist affectionately.

Claudia could feel the breath being sucked out of her body as if she had just been struck very hard or someone had squeezed her heart and tore it out. She could do nothing but stop and stare as her husband grinned at flirted with a courtesan right in front of her!

"Claudia!" Antonio called and that's when Machiavelli looked up in surprise. She saw the shock and amazement flash on his face before he started to wriggle free out of the courtesan's grip.

"What's the matter?" she was asking, but Machiavelli had paled and finally pried himself away and walking towards her.

"Claudia, I…."

Claudia swallowed through the thick bitter liquid welling in her throat and then walked the other way before she burst into tears in front of everyone.


	36. Chapter 36

With her head held high, she walked into the sparsely decorated room and made her way to the table.

"So here is the plan." Antonio said, unrolling a parchment and laying it on the table.

Claudia struggled hard to focus on it, but the words and lines were blurring before her and she blinked back her tears. Laying her hands on the table, she sought control over her emotions even as she was fully aware that the person who had been the cause of her predicament had walked into the room.

She kept her eyes down and pushed away her thoughts that had returned to cause her pain.

_At least he wasn't with Marietta!_

Claudia took deep breaths and was glad that no one had noticed her struggles in the dimly lit room.

Machiavelli took his position across her and she could feel his eyes on her. She wanted to scream at him and demand to know why he hadn't written to her or come see her when she was in Venezia. The answer was obvious- that he had been visiting brothels instead of staying loyal to his vows.

She couldn't believe that only hours before, she had been telling Leonardo how glad she was that she hadn't married Duccio. And now she had been slapped hard by her destiny as the one man she thought was trustworthy and loyal had acted just like Duccio had.

"The Carnivale is going on." Sister Teodora was saying and Claudia realized that she had missed most of the conversation.

"The timing is perfect." Antonio replied. "The Doge throws his parties then and that is when he comes out of his Palazzo to celebrate."

"But his parties are heavily guarded." Sister Teodora said. "The only guests that are invited are dignitaries and a special guest who is the winner of the Carnivale games."

"It is settled then." Antonio said. "We must win the Golden mask and enter the party."

"Why not make one?" Claudia asked, glad that no one had noticed her strangled tone. "Leonardo is skillful enough to forge one."

"They are numbered unfortunately." Sister Teodora said.

"Then I shall just have to win one." She said determinedly, feeling some of her vigor returning.

"No!" Machiavelli said. "I will participate in the games."

Claudia did look at him then and wished she could just scream at him, but she was in front of her peers and it wouldn't do to create a scene in front of them. "I am perfectly capable of handling this task myself." She said stubbornly.

"It has nothing to do with capability."

"Then it has to do with what exactly?" she asked. "Do not tell me, it's because I'm a woman."

"Actually." Sister Teodora interjected. "It is exactly that."

"What do you mean?" Claudia asked, feeling the blood draining from her face.

"Only the men participate in the games."

"Then I shall go in disguise." Claudia replied, but she knew that she had lost when Antonio shook his head.

"Bene. I shall leave now." Claudia walked out the room with her hands clenched into fists, feeling so angry and sad at the same time, that she wished she could just run away and go as far away from here and Machiavelli as possible.

"Claudia." He said, coming behind her.

She bit her lip hard and wiped away a tear that had rolled down her cheek.

"Let me explain myself." He said desperately. "I was with the courtesan only so that I could obtain all the information she had gathered."

Claudia stood silently, with her back turned towards him, feeling her breath return as well as a glimmer of faint hope. Perhaps he was telling the truth. She wanted so badly to believe that he was.

"I did not break my vows." He told her solemnly.

Claudia felt another tear roll down her face and she wiped that way quickly too. She wanted to ask him where he had been and why he hadn't come for her, but the truth was that he didn't need to even tell her. He had married her out of pity and for the rest of her life; she felt she could never demand to be cared for. And maybe she shouldn't even object to him meeting with the courtesans. He had every right to be happy, did he not?

Her lips trembled and she ran away from him before he saw her tears.

"You look sullen." Leonardo noted.

Claudia sulked in the chair in the corner and didn't answer. After finally getting her tears under control, she had been empowered with a burst of anger that had reminded her that the Doge was her target and that she should have been the one to kill him, not Machiavelli.

"I am fine." She said moodily and pulled up her legs to rest on the chair.

"Tell me." Leonardo said kindly.

"I do not want to burden you anymore. You already do so much for the Assassins and now even my personal problems."

"Machiavelli." Leonardo picked up his paintbrush and stroked with it on his canvas. "He has done something wrong again?"

Claudia made a face and then sighed. "He's here. I found him at the brothel."

"Oh?" Leonardo bent his head sideways and glanced at her.

Claudia told him everything and then leaned her head back on the wall. "I wanted to be the one to kill my target."

Leonardo was trying hard not to laugh, but his face was turning a bright red.

"What is so funny?" she asked in annoyance.

"That both of you are behaving like children. As if killing the Doge is not a mission but a competition."

Claudia pulled up her legs on the chair and hugged her knees. "They disregarded me. As if I wasn't capable of undertaking this mission."

Leonardo tapped the end of his paintbrush on his chin and then dropped it on the small wooden table beside him. "I may have the solution to your problems."

Claudia sat up straight. "What?"

Leonardo went over to his worktable and held up one of the codex pages. "This." He said. "This has a design for a small firearm that would be attached to your wrist. As small as a hummingbird."

Claudia came over to stand by his side and peered at the obscure drawings that apparently could only be understood by Leonardo. "You mean, like a gun?"

"Una pistola molto piccolo." He grinned. "And the best part is…you can aim from a distance."

Claudia grinned back at Leonardo. "Davvero?"

Leonardo winked at her. "It is entirely up to you to devise a little plan for yourself."

Claudia stood up on her toes and kissed Leonardo on his cheek. "Molto grazie." She said and unstrapped her vambraces to give to Leonardo.

"A few hours and you will have your wish."

Claudia sat down on the table with a parchment and started to draw a map for herself.


	37. Chapter 37

The stuffed dummy had little chance against her new weapon and when she pulled on the lever she felt a shudder pass through her.

_Bang!_

This was perfect! The dummy fell down from the ledge it was perched on and she examined the hole on the head. To get a better accuracy, she would have to be nearer to her target than she had first guessed. She walked back to the table Leonardo had set up for her outside, and drew a circle near the docks.

Originally, she had hoped to take aim at the Doge from the docks, but now it seemed she would have to station herself nearer. She scratched her chin thoughtfully and tried to remember what else Sister Teodora and Antonio had been talking about. If she hadn't been so distracted by Machiavelli's presence, perhaps she would have paid better attention.

"Nessuna problema." She told herself out loud. "I can do this. I can!"

She thought long and hard and then remembered that Sister Teodora had mentioned that the Doge would be surrounded by guards and quite possibly be on board of a ship.

Claudia smiled to herself and quickly put a cross on the square where the party was to be held. She put another cross next to it where the ship would possibly be and then drew a line further away from it. This is where she would stay in waiting, ready to take a shot with her new weapon.

"How is it going?" Leonardo asked, coming out to the small enclosure. His hands were smeared with green paint and he was taking great pains to make sure that the paint didn't stain his clothes.

"I have a plan that might work."

"That is good news." Leonardo said. "There is a note for you."

Claudia rolled up the map she made and hesitated. "Who is it from?"

"A thief dropped it by for you." Leonardo replied. "It's at my desk."

Claudia nodded and walked inside, wondering if it was from Machiavelli, when she noticed the very man she had been thinking about standing by a wall and admiring one of Leonardo's incredible artwork.

She uttered a small gasp and then turned around at Leonardo who was smirking delightfully at her. She scowled at him and he slinked away.

"I was told I could find you here." Machiavelli addressed her without turning around.

"Why are you here?" she asked, keeping her tone in check.

"I was making sure you were alright."

Claudia wanted to say if he had only now begun to be concerned about her welfare and then decided against the scathing comment. "Shouldn't you be more concerned with the mission at hand, instead?"

Machiavelli did turn at her and he seemed annoyed with her. "How long are you going to continue to with this behavior?"

Claudia crossed her arms. "I wasn't aware I needed your permission to behave appropriately." She was doing it again and instigating a fight, but she couldn't help herself. The thought that he might be keeping company with other women, refused to leave her mind.

"Claudia, I thought we were friends. What happened?" he asked. He looked so dejected in the dull glow of the candles that Claudia could feel herself softening.

"We are married now." Claudia said quietly. "Our relationship has changed and rather than make sense of it, you find it easier to avoid me and…spend time with other….people."

Machiavelli turned back to stare at the painting and Claudia could see his shoulders stiffen. He was avoiding her again and it was breaking her heart. She missed him and she really wished she could go back to having him as her confidant and a friend who was always there to help her.

"I have been busy." His voice was so low that she had to step closer to listen. "I have work in Firenze and now this whole business with the Doge."

Claudia frowned at him. She had been busy too, but if she were in his place and if he were agreeable to engage in a conversation, then she would have made an effort to spend time with him. Taking a deep breath to collect her thoughts and subdue her irritation she took a step towards him. "We have both been busy and since we are Assassins, there is very little chance that we shall have any free time. So until we decide what to do with this change, we should let things remain the way they are."

"You mean, the way you refuse to speak to me anymore?" Machiavelli asked in annoyance. "Ah! But now that you have Leonardo to lean on, you have little use for anyone else."

Claudia gasped. "You're jealous of Leonardo?" she asked. "He has been so kind to help the Assassins. You know that."

Machiavelli looked like he did regret his words but he didn't reply to amend them. He continued to glower and then reached into his pockets for a note and almost threw it on the table, then decided against it and handed it to her.

Claudia took it and opened it. "What is it?" she asked.

Machiavelli looked frustrated. "It's the location of Emilio Barbarigo and his ally Carlo Grimaldi."

Claudia put the note into her pocket. "Very well then. I will take care of them."

"Be careful." He said and then without waiting for her to reply, walked out Leonardo's studio.

The Carnivale had begun and people were already flocking towards the main square in the Dorsoduro district. Instead of following them, Claudia headed towards the docks and looked for an empty gondola. She gazed in the distance at the jesters performing fire tricks and wondered how Machiavelli was faring at the Carnivale games.

Machiavelli was skilled and she had no doubt that he would win the games, but her intuition told her that his opponents were the Templars and their only assets were deceit and treachery. The chances of Machiavelli emerging as the winner of the games were unlikely and she was glad if that would be the outcome.

She would prefer if her plan went without a hitch and hopefully without any casualties. Once the Doge would die by her weapon, she wasn't sure how much commotion would be created. All she knew was that he would have to die today.

She stepped into the gondola and started to row. Once she was far out into the waters, she let down the oar and sat alone with her thoughts again.

It was getting difficult to understand why she couldn't see Machiavelli as her friend anymore. They were married, but with that relationship came something else that she could still not comprehend. Who were they and what were they supposed to become?

And with these thoughts came a strange uneasiness that bored right to her bones and muscles. She had heard that someone in the neighborhood had their marriage annulled. What if…?

No, she wouldn't allow herself to think such terrible thoughts. If only Machiavelli was what he used to be with her before, she would be telling him all these things instead of driving herself insane with these thoughts.

She let out a breath and sat up with a jolt as the fireworks went off. It had become darker and she hadn't even noticed it. In the distance, she saw the silhouette of a large ship sail closer to the land.

Sister Teodora's information had been correct. The Doge was on the ship. She stood up and started to row slowly towards it. The party had begun and the guests were already cheering and dancing.

As soon as she had the Doge in view, she let her oar down and let the boat float closer towards the ship. She raised her arm and pulled on her lever. A guard walked right past the Doge and blocked her view.

"Pazienza!" she reminded herself. Her plan would only work if she shot the Doge dead. One mistake and she would never be able to eliminate him.

She held her breath and was glad when the fireworks went off and for a brief moment, the sky was illuminated by its brilliance. The Doge's position was also fully visible. She didn't waste a minute. She pulled on the lever and a loud shot erupted from her gun.

The Doge clutched at his chest and then fell to his knees. It was done.

Claudia stood numbly, making sure the Doge was indeed going to die.

"Who did this?" the guards on the ship shouted.

The fireworks went on again and she saw the Doge lying motionless on the deck. People in the nearby square started to shriek and run, but the guards let out a warning against anyone even moving.

Claudia started to row away when she spotted Machiavelli, removing the golden mask from his face and standing on the edge of a ledge, watching the dead body of the Doge in amazement.

"Assassino!" one of the guards cried, pointing towards him.

"Oh no!" Claudia uttered and then hoped that Machiavelli had thought of an escape plan of his own. It turned out that his only escape was running up the rooftops and he did exactly that, tossing the mask behind him.

"Raggazzi! After him!" the captain of guards shouted.

Claudia rowed towards the docks and quickly got out. She had made a terrible mistake. She had been so egoistic in trying to outsmart the other Assassins, she had unwillingly put her own husband in danger.

But now was not the time to dwell on her errors. She sped towards the buildings and quickly climbed up the roof. Machiavelli was about to be outnumbered as a group of ten guards chased him.

Claudia jumped from rooftop to rooftop, not pausing for even a breath. She was a skilled fighter and so was Machiavelli but it would be disastrous to take on the guards in the midst of a high alert.

"The Doge has been killed!" someone yelled in the streets below.

She could already here more guards being called and felt her heart sink. She spotted a roof garden across from her and then looked at where Machiavelli was. He had almost given the guards the slip, but the longer he ran on the rooftops, the better chances were of him being caught.

Claudia sped towards the roof gardens and reached before he could. Jumping in, she peeked through the curtains, waiting for the right moment to make her move.

Machiavelli came sprinting towards the rooftop garden and started to move sideways, when she reached out and pulled him back by his shoulders.

The force by which she pulled him hurriedly caused them both to fall inside the roof garden.

Machiavelli started to say something and Claudia clamped her hand over his mouth, signaling him to remain quiet. She heard footsteps beside the rooftop gardens and she felt her heart stop.

Machiavelli raised his head and then held up a finger. Claudia looked behind him and shook her head quickly, putting up four fingers.

Machiavelli pointed at his sword and then let out a soft moan. Claudia removed her hand and looked down to see that he had lost his sword. He was without a weapon and she had only her hidden gun with five bullets. She silently cursed herself for believing that she wouldn't need her other weapons. For now, they were trapped and as more footsteps headed towards them, Claudia realized that her plans had gone all wrong.


	38. Chapter 38

It was all her fault. Her plans had been haphazard and had resulted in her being trapped along with Machiavelli. When she closed her eyes briefly, all she could hear were the metallic thumps of armor and footsteps of the guards.

"Find that bastardo! That Assassino!" she heard a hoarse cry.

If only she hadn't been so egoistical in the first place and let Machiavelli kill the Doge instead. But she had been so angry then; seeing him with courtesans and imagining him cavorting with Marietta. If only she had the better sense to think this through.

When the footsteps moved away from the roof garden, she pulled back her hood and buried her face in her hands. 

"I am sorry." She said in a whisper. Machiavelli shifted so that he was facing her. The space was tiny and they only managed to sit with their knees raised. "I should have thought this through."

"This was a night when all plans were in disarray." He said regrettably. "I was unable to acquire the golden mask in the carnival games and had to steal it. I entered the party by blending in with the courtesans." He leaned his head back and peeked through the gently billowing curtains. "It would have only been a matter of minutes before I was going to be discovered anyway."

"I should have been more careful." She said. "I thought it would be easier to kill him with this new weapon Leonardo designed for me. I was certain I had an advantage and didn't think I might end up putting anyone else in danger."

"Leonardo has been helping you?" his voice was sharp.

"Si." Claudia peeked out from the other window and saw three guards huddled a few feet away and deep in discussion. "He has been really helpful in deciphering the locations of the other seals as well. Without him, I would have not progressed this far."

She turned to look at him then and in the darkness saw him grimacing. The cold wind blew in through the curtains and Claudia shivered. She was glad to be dressed in her warm Assassin robes and cloak, but one quick glance at Machiavelli showed her that he didn't look too warm.

He was dressed in a black doublet with golden embroidery and dark breeches and boots. She supposed he wanted to be dressed for the party rather than stand out in his practical Assassin garb.

"Hmm." Machiavelli said distractedly and leaned towards the window as if listening for something. Claudia held her breath and could hear a guard below talking about the Doge's murder.

"Did you see who it was?" he was saying.

The other guard made a disgusted sound. "No we didn't see that bastardo's face, but it is no doubt the work of the Assassins."

"Someone is not going to be pleased with this news. The Assassini have been causing nothing but trouble in Venezia.

Claudia frowned and then glanced at Machiavelli who seemed relieved for some reason. He rested his elbow on his knee and took a deep breath.

And that's when Claudia realized what had caused this reaction. "You were afraid to be recognized?" she asked in a low tone. The guards were walking again, although she heard the footsteps going further than towards them.

"I cannot afford to have my identity compromised." He replied.

"What harm can it do?" Claudia asked. "I mean, Duccio knows who I am. But I don't feel like I am in any danger from him. Or perhaps it has got to do with the fact that he is so far away in Roma."

"The Auditores were always synonymous with Assassins." He seemed angry again and Claudia wondered if it had to do with her killing the Doge and compromising his identity. Her guess proved right when he spoke again. "But I would like to retain my anonymity as much as possible."

"Why?" she asked boldly. "Why does it matter if our enemies know us? We are all pledged to the Order and our families are aware of the danger we would be facing."

"Everything is not as simple, Claudia." He said impatiently. "Perhaps your Mother does not mind that you are an Assassin, but mine does."

Claudia sat up straight. "You have a family?" The question sounded odd, but then Machiavelli hadn't been exactly forthcoming with his personal life.

Machiavelli sighed. "Si. My father is an attorney in Firenze. Although now he has moved to Toscana with my Mother and my sisters and brother."

"You never talked about them before." Claudia said. She knew she was prying, but as his wife, didn't she have the right to know?

"We are estranged." He said and then quickly added, "At the moment." He looked at her then and she didn't see anger in his expressions but a buried sadness that was surfacing. "I was inducted fairly early at the Assassin Order and my Father didn't approve of my choices. He wanted me to join politics and focus solely on that."

"But you are." She said.

"I thought it would make him happy and it did until…" he paused and then turned away from her.

When he didn't reply for a long time, Claudia peeked out the window again and saw the group of guards checking their weapons. She should be thinking of an escape plan, but considering the error in judgment she had made by killing the Doge without letting the Assassins know, she now felt discouraged to make another plan. What if she made yet another mistake and Machiavelli had to pay the price for it?

She turned back to him and saw him looking forlorn and realized he had not completed his story. "Until what?"

Machiavelli flexed his hands and she saw him glimpse at the wedding band on his finger. Claudia felt as if someone had poked her heart.

"You Father does not approve of this marriage, does he?" she asked carefully. The tears in her eyes were threatening to flow and she wouldn't stop them.

Machiavelli was astounded by her statement but didn't deny it. He hesitated and nodded. "Not because of you, but because the Auditores were branded as conspirators and traitors. "

"But we're not!" Claudia said.

"I have tried to make him see reason, but my Father can be stubborn with his beliefs. Until the Templars schemes are not exposed, a lot of people are forever going to see the Assassins as the enemy."

Claudia felt her gut twist and she bit down on her trembling lip. Machiavelli had been hiding so much pain from her. He had wanted to save her and instead had strained his ties with his own family. Because of her! And what had she done in return? What happiness had she given him ever since the wedding?

"Claudia…" he said softly. "It's not your…"

"Don't!" she said in a tired voice. "Please, don't say anything."

Machiavelli took her hand and squeezed, then pulled her closer. It was getting colder and being closer to him felt warm. She could feel his hands getting cold and removed her cloak. Draping it over them she tried to clear her mind. She may not have done anything to make him happy, but she would get him out of the predicament she had inflicted on him.

_Think, _she scolded herself. There had to be a way to get out of this unscathed and with Machiavelli's anonymity intact. She was an Assassin and she had been trained to fight and survive.

"I have a plan." She said.

"We have no weapons." He reminded her.

"Well, I do have one, but if everything works out fine, we won't have to use it."

"I find it hard to think…"

"Trust me."

"Bene. What is the plan, then?"

Claudia raised her hand and banged against the walls of the roof garden.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What was that?" one of the guards asked.

"Go check it out." Another said.

Claudia peeked through the curtains and saw a guard walking towards them with his sword drawn out.

She counted till five and then stood up slowly. As soon as the guard was close enough, she reached out and stabbed his neck with her Hidden blades while simultaneously pulling him inside.

She laid him on the floor and clamped a hand on his mouth to muffle the cries. Once the guard's eyes glazed over, she pulled the sword out of his hands and handed it to Machiavelli.

"Now you have a weapon."

Machiavelli stood up and took it from her.

"I'll go this way, while you climb down the roof." Claudia said. "I'll keep them distracted."

"You can't fight them alone." He said.

"I won't. I'll keep them distracted until you're safe."

Machiavelli looked like he didn't like the idea. "I can't leave you here."

"You're not. You have to protect your identity." Claudia said. "I will be fine."

"I can't take that chance." He said and stepped out with his sword ready.

"Ora!" she heard the guards call.

Claudia sighed, pulled the hood over her head and jumped out.

The guards charged towards them, but Claudia easily deflected them, while Machiavelli fought deftly and managed to kill two of the guards quickly. Claudia plunged her blade into the neck of the third and then caught Machiavelli's arm.

"I'll go this way. You go the other."

"Bene. We'll meet at Sister Teodora's." Machiavelli said.

"Be careful." She told him.

"You too." He said and ran the other side to fight the guards jumping on the roof they were on.

"Catch him!" they cried and Claudia watched with worry as Machiavelli fought them off. She turned and ran to jump on the adjoining roof where the other guards had noticed the dead bodies of their peers.

She managed to disarm one and kill him with his own sword while dodging the swinging blade of another. Her hands moved fluidly and the guards lay dead on the roof. She stopped then, catching her breath and saw more guards heading towards her. Looking back, she saw Machiavelli jumping off the rooftop and she did the same.

Landing on her feet, she ran as fast as she could. She had to evade the guards. There were too many of them and she would no doubt be outnumbered. Before her was the canal and she dragged her feet to a halt.

Taking one last look at the guards behind her, she jumped into the water and started to swim as fast as she could.

She heard the guards telling each other to pick up rocks and immediately dived underwater. Swimming as fast as she could, she kept her head ducked until her lungs felt hot and painful. Only then did she surface and catch her breath.

She was safe now. The guards were far behind and unable to detect her. She swam toward the steps and pulled herself up.

Her breath felt heavy and her muscles ached. She coughed into her hands and then got up. She still had to make her way to Sister Teodora's and meet up with Machiavelli.

She had walked halfway there, when she recalled their earlier conversation. She had caused nothing but trouble for Machiavelli and he had done only the opposite for her. What was she doing? No, she had to set him free from her. He deserved to be happy even if it meant that she would have to annul her marriage to him. This wasn't what he had wanted anyway.

Claudia turned around and felt a sharp pain in her heart. She was aware she was crying as she walked the other way, but she couldn't help herself.

Machiavelli would be better off without her. But he wouldn't leave on his own accord. Claudia realized this with dismay and knew that Machiavelli was a man of his word and he would keep his vows to her.

"Unless…" she said aloud, without even realizing it. Unless, he saw her being unfaithful to him. Then he would leave her.

Taking a deep ragged breath, she had an idea of just who might be able to help her. After all, she had a hunch that Machiavelli was already not in favor of her friendship with him. Claudia climbed up a roof and headed to see Leonardo.


	39. Chapter 39

"No!"

"Why not?" Claudia asked and then followed him around the Bottega as he rummaged through the shelves in search of something.

"You asked and I said no." Leonardo said and pushed back a few bottles to pick up a pot of black paint.

"I am pleading with you to help me." Claudia said and then had to run behind him as he walked to the other side of his store room with speed.

"And again, I am refusing you." Leonardo said.

"Do you have a reason?"

"Si." Leonardo picked up a rag from another shelf and headed back to his worktable. "I do not want to get involved."

"Machiavelli would be better off without me. But he would never break his promise and leave me on his own. But if he thought I was being unfaithful…"

"No!" Leonardo repeated.

Claudia pouted at him and stood across him. "He does not want me."

Leonardo gasped in shock. "He said that?"

"What? No, of course not."

Leonardo shook his head. "No."

"You're my friend. How could you not want to help me?" Claudia almost whined.

"I am your friend and that's why I'm not helping you with this ludicrous idea."

"But it's the only way for him to be happy."

"And you?" Leonardo picked up one of his paintbrushes.

Claudia hesitated and couldn't think what to answer.

"Your silence has answered for you."

"I would be happy if he is."

Leonardo put down his brush and rubbed his forehead. "I refuse to be a part of a love triangle that you are trying to form."

"Love triangle? Love?" Claudia asked in amazement.

"Si, you and your love for your husband."

"I am not in love with him." Claudia said weakly. "He's my friend."

"No, Claudia. I am your friend. He's the one that you are clearly in love with."

"No I'm not!" she replied and wondered why she was feeling so irritated by the suggestion.

"Don't you see it?" he asked and spread his hands. "All you ever do is talk about him. Machiavelli this and Machiavelli that. Not to mention the numerous times you complain about him not spending enough time with you."

"He is my friend Leonardo!" she cried. "That's what friends do. He married me because he was being a friend."

"I am your friend, Claudia, but even I wouldn't marry you."

Claudia bit her lip because at that moment, she had only felt bubbles of laughter as Leonardo said that. "That was rude." She managed to say.

"What I mean is, that I wouldn't have married you. You're my friend and I am concerned about you. But marriage is something else entirely. Machiavelli did not marry you out of pity."

"And you have a theory about that too?" Claudia crossed her arms.

"I haven't put my theory to test so it has yet to be proven as a fact."

"So if Machiavelli did actually mean to keep his vows, tell me this, why has he been staying away from me?" Claudia asked.

Leonardo drummed his fingers on the table thoughtfully and almost dropped the bottle of paint. Claudia reached out to grab it before it spilled on the table.

"You'll have to ask him." He replied.

Claudia pushed the bottle of paint towards him. "I know why." She said in a soft voice. Her throat burned with the words but she had to convince Leonardo to help her. "He doesn't want anything to do with me. As soon as we were married, he left me. He didn't write to me and didn't come to see me. When I finally did, he was with a courtesan."

"That mascalzone!" he muttered. "I will speak to him. No, I will punish him for having an affain with another woman."

"No!" Claudia said, pushing Leonardo's hands away as he reached for a dagger in his drawer. "He explained that he had to keep them happy so that he could gain information. He did say he hadn't done anything…he shouldn't have."

Leonardo grumbled and then shook his head. "And there is no reason to suspect him of lying?"

Claudia shook her head and then looked at the small dagger. "Why do you have a dagger?"

"Protection." He replied nonchalantly. "The guards can be rather abusive sometimes."

Claudia frowned. Why hadn't Leonardo told her that? She would make sure he wasn't harassed ever again. Then she reminded herself to focus on the problem at hand. "Will you help me or not?"

"No." Leonardo said without blinking. "I am not interfering in your married life especially since you are so obviously in love with him."

"I am not!" she said, feeling her anger returning. "I have never thought of him that way."

"Why not?"

"You are being incorrigible. I'll say this again. There is no love between us."

"I don't believe you." Leonardo said and picked up his paintbrush and returned to his canvas.

"Ugh!" Claudia grunted. "I…I'm leaving this very instant!"

"Claudia." Leonardo relented. "It is getting late and the guards are on high alert. Stay the night. It wouldn't be safe for you to leave."

She was breathing heavily and wanted to break something or slam doors, but Leonardo's offer had managed to calm herself a little. Leonardo was her friend and she shouldn't be mad at him, considering he was only trying to help. Besides, he did have a point. Where else would she go at this time anyway? To Sister Teodora's?

Grumbling, she headed towards the stairs and stomped upstairs. Once inside the room, she slammed the door and unbuckled her weapons belt to throw it in the corner.

Why wouldn't Leonardo help her? She could already see it: Machiavelli would find her in Leonardo's arms, think that she would prefer being with him and offer separation.

Claudia fell into the bed and buried her face in the pillow. Separation. The words were like thorns on her heart, pricking the muscle every time it beat.

She turned and lay straight, staring at the ceiling. Would Machiavelli want to be anywhere near her after they separated? He might think her lowly for being with another man and break all ties with her.

She turned to lay on her side and looked out the window. The night sky was lit by hundreds of stars twinkling. The cold breeze made her shiver but she made no move to pull the covers over her.

What Leonardo ha said downstairs, returned to her. He had said that she was in love with him. Was she? Is that why she was always thinking about him?

She closed her eyes. No, she couldn't be. Love was complicated and from what she heard, hurtful. Especially when it wasn't reciprocated and knowing Machiavelli, she was certain that his concern for her did not evolve to that level.

No, she had to find a way to break up the marriage and set him free to pursue a relationship with whomever he wanted.

Marietta? She was a family friend and about Machiavelli's age. Perhaps their relationship would flourish if they were given an opportunity to and who was she to stand in their way?

"Claudia?" she heard Leonardo call softly.

She snapped her eyes open and saw that the sky outside had lightened slightly. Had she been sleeping? She got up and rubbed her eyes. "Huh? What?"

"There is someone to see you." He said gleefully. She noticed his hands had s smear of dark paint and another one on his cuffs. He had been painting and she had fallen in some sort of sleep where she had been aware of her thoughts; her thoughts about Machiavelli.

Claudia swung her legs over. "Who is it?"

But before she could answer, Machiavelli was already opening the door wider and walking in.

Claudia shielded her eyes from the sudden bright light.

"What are you doing here?" Machiavelli asked, anger lacing through his words.

"What?" Claudia tried to blink away the haze in her mind and then saw Leonardo grinning behind Machiavelli.

"You were supposed to meet me at the brothel." His eyes were blazing with fury.

Claudia got up and managed to collect her thoughts. She was about to answer him and then had an idea. Leonardo had refused to help her, but the truth was, she didn't really need him. She could deceive Machiavelli all by herself.

"I did not want to go there." She smiled widely at Leonardo. "I prefer being here. I like being here…with Leonardo."

She saw Leonardo's smile fall and replaced by fear. His eyes darted towards Machiavelli who looked livid at her statement.

"Of course she likes being here." Leonardo said and for a moment, Claudia thought he was finally going to help her. But then Leonardo pushed away all her doubts. "I give her food and let her sleep. Heh! I give her delicious food. You must be hungry too. Do you want some dinner?"

Machiavelli's nostrils were flaring as he turned to Leonardo. "It is very late to have dinner."

"Early breakfast then?" he asked nervously. Claudia frowned. Why wouldn't Leonardo help her? She then decided that perhaps she was being unfair to her friend by dragging him into her problems. It wasn't right to have Leonardo leave his art and his work to help her every time.

She sighed and then took Machiavelli's hand and walked downstairs and then outside to the small enclosure where she trained.

"You know how worried I was?" Machiavelli scolded. "Why have you developed this strange habit of running away? Do you know how perilous it was for me to come out tonight and search for you? After spending hours on the docks, I finally guessed that you must have come here."

"Mi Dispiace. But you should know that I am perfectly capable to look after myself." She replied. "You needn't have been worried."

"Why didn't you meet me at Sister Teodora's?"

"I didn't want to." Claudia said and then turned away so that he couldn't see her tears. She was so angry with Leonardo and Machiavelli, yet at the same time she was confused by the thought that she may have developed stronger and deeper feelings without even realizing it.

"Did it ever occur to you about how worried I would have been? I thought you were hurt." He continued to scold her.

"I just wanted to…I don't know." Claudia replied, feeling even closer to tears.

Machiavelli grabbed her elbow and turned her around to face him. "You cannot be careless, Claudia."

"I have become a skilled Assassin in these past years. I will not let the Order down."

"That is not what I meant." He said softly. "I have no doubt about your capabilities. I am well aware of your work and your execution."

"How would you?" she asked. "You're never around."

"But I do." He said.

Claudia was suddenly aware that she was holding her breath and that she was standing so close to Machiavelli. His hand was still under her elbow and she could feel his warmth. She bit her lip when she realized that she was losing herself and pushed his hand away gently.

"How could….oh! You have asked your spies to keep an eye on me?" she asked.

"Just when you go out on missions." Machiavelli said defensively. "I had to make sure you were fine and that if you needed any help, my spies could offer it. After you went off by yourself in Venezia and had me worried, I had to make sure that it never happened again."

Claudia gasped. "I do not even know how to respond to that!"

"It is merely for your safety." Machiavelli said. "They were asked to never interfere unless you were in danger of failing."

"How kind of you." She taunted. "I had thought you were confident about me, but clearly that is not!"

"Claudia, you misunderstand me." He said. "You were undertaking missions against dangerous enemies. The Pazzi, especially. You had gone and confronted them without a proper plan. If they had guards with them, you would have been overpowered. La Volpe had his thieves, but they wouldn't have been able to distract the guards for long."

"So that is how you suddenly appeared in the church." Claudia said and then another thought occurred to her. "We weren't married then."

"No. But why do you ask?"

Claudia took a few steps away from him. At first she had thought that Machiavelli had been keeping an eye on her because she was his wife. But he had been aware of her missions longer than that. Claudia couldn't decide if she should be happy that he was concerned about her to such an extent to keep his spies on her trail or angry that he hadn't been doing so himself.

"Never mind." She replied distractedly. Leonardo had managed to confuse her and put thoughts into her head. She wasn't in love with Machiavelli and she never would be.

"Bene. Anyway, I have come to inform you that I shall be leaving for Firenze."

"When?"

"Now." Machiavelli said. "It has been decided that I leave this very instant in case the guards grow suspicious of me.

Claudia held her breath. Would he ask her to come with him? And would she say yes?

"In the meantime, you would have to take care of Emilio Barbarigo and Carlo Grimaldi." Machiavelli produced a letter from his pocket. "They are to meet Silvio Barbarigo and Dante Moro near the Arsenale in a few weeks. The details are in this."

Claudia felt her heart wrench in pain. She was now only a fellow Assassin to him. She took the letter and kept her gaze down so that he couldn't see the hurt in her eyes.

"I trust you shall be able to carry off this mission on your own?" he asked. "You will be aided by Bartolomeo and Antonio."

"Bene." She managed to say.

"I am leaving now." He said.

"Arrivederci." She said in a strangled voice.

"I shall write to you."

Claudia nodded and Machiavelli took her hand, drew her close and kissed her forehead. "Don't disappear again." He whispered tenderly. "I will never forgive myself if any harm comes to you."

Claudia knew she was incapable of answering without bursting into tears, so she nodded and then when Machiavelli walked away, she started to cry.

"Claudia?" Leonardo asked from the doorway. "Are you…?"

She wiped her tears furiously and stormed towards him, intending to berate him for making her believe she was in love when she didn't want to be and then she would tell him that she…

Claudia broke into loud sobs and Leonardo put his arms around her. "Did he say something? Did you say something?"

She sniffed and tried to catch her breath. "I don't want to be in love. I don't want to be in love with him."

"Why?" he asked plainly.

"It hurts." She said between sobs. "I don't want to feel lost when he walks away from me. I don't want to feel like I've been hit hard when I see him with other women and I don't want to feel like I would have to let him go so that he can be happy in his life."

"But Claudia, he came to see you even when his life was in danger. He came out tonight to see you even though he could have been caught by the city guards."

"He was just…."

"Shush!" Leonardo said and stroked her arm gently. "You can think of all the reasons you want, but the only one that is obvious is that if he only cared lightly for you, he would have sent a message through his spies."

"I don't want to receive false hope." She said.

"Then find out if it's true." He told her. "Go after him. Ask him. Be with him."

Claudia broke away from his embrace and stood up. She wiped away her tears and looked down at the letter. "No. I have work to do here."

"Claudia…."

"I have to go now." She said and felt only coldness around her heart when she walked out.


	40. Chapter 40

This was supposed to be easy. The minute she had leapt of the beam and into a haystack, both guards were supposed to come and inspect it so that she could have gotten them at once with her Hidden Blade. Instead all she had managed to kill was the Brute leaving the skittish Agile guard to scamper away.  
Claudia didn't pause even for a second. She took off after him, calculating his every move. As soon as he reached the gate, she had already noticed the rope and knew the guard was going to cut it down and block her path. So even before he could have done that, she had already started to run on her left, jumping over blocks and crates to reach the other side and stop him.  
But he was too quick. He ran the other way and reached yet another gate. Claudia skidded her feet and turned right, jumping over beams and swinging from rods to finally reach the balcony where the guard flew past her yet again.  
She kept running, focused on only the guard and letting her blades spring out and ready for attack. She jumped over the ledge and finally found her chance. Leaping in air, she grabbed his neck and pushed his face on the floor. Her blade lay at the base of his neck, but she wasn't tempted to use it anymore.  
Before she killed her enemies, she stopped just a few moments to savor the thrill that came with the chase. She retracted the blade as the guard started to wriggle helplessly beneath her. She put one of her hands on his chin and the other on the back of his head.  
"Requiescat in pace." She said and twisted his neck until she heard a crack. Getting up, she examined the body and then strode untroubled towards the door. There were four guards in the adjoining room playing tarot, but they hadn't heard her yet. She could just walk out the door and spare their lives. Or…  
She walked into the room and leaned against the doorway. "Salve Uomini."  
The guards looked at her in surprise and then she saw them leering at her before taking in her white Assassin robes.  
Not for long, she thought. One more seal to go after this and she would obtain Altair's armor.  
"Assassino!" the squeamish guard called. The guards threw their cards and got up, drawing their swords.  
Claudia pulled out her own and ducked when the Brute aimed with his axe. He was the one to watch out for. She moved quickly, deflected another attack from him, spun around and caught a small space between his neck and the helmet. Her hidden blades sprung out and she stabbed him quickly in the neck. The blood oozed immediately and sprayed on the Captain who was enraged.  
"You'll die today!" he threatened.  
Claudia smiled at him and then plunged her sword into his chest. "Not today." She told him, pushing him on the floor.  
The other two guards looked scared but still hadn't lowered their weapons. She spun her sword and stabbed one of them in the chest and then pulled the sword out to stab the other in the neck.  
When the men lay dead on the floor, Claudia caught her breath. It was done. She bent over and rummaged through their pockets, pulling out small change and vials of medicine. They wouldn't need it anymore. But she did need every florin she could get her hands on .There were weapons to buy and armor to upgrade. Plus, her Uncle had expressed his desire to rebuild Monteriggioni forts and so far she had been able to contribute to build the Mercenaries faction.  
When she had pocketed every last florin, she walked out and opened the door. The sight before her made her heart sink a bit. From the looks of the levers and switches on the pillars, she was certain this was yet another time constraint puzzle.  
She looked at the green slime on the walls and the murky waters. So much filth and so much stench filled the air, that she gagged and covered her nose. "Cosi disgustoso!" she complained.  
But there was nothing she could do about this. She took a deep breath, held it and pulled on the lever near her. The pillars before her rotated and she traced her route. She would have to jump on one pole to reach a ledge covered in sludge which would then take her to a lever.  
She turned to look at the grand door before her. This had to be the door to the tomb. Why did everything have to be such an ordeal? Why couldn't the tombs just be on a high ledge somewhere or better yet, right where she was standing?  
Claudia pulled herself together and ran, easily balancing herself on the pole and jumping to catch the first lever. A long tile instantly moved on the grand door and Claudia swung onto the ledge. The next was going to be tricky.  
She opened her mouth to catch her breath and gagged again. The stench was unbearable and her boots made a sickening swishing sound as it trod over the green sludge. She clenched her hands into fists and ran on the wall, then jumped sideways to land on the ledge. She had done it! Her resolve quickly dissolved when her foot suddenly slipped and she fell into the water.  
"Ugh!" she cried out. She swam quickly to the surface, completely aware of the wet slime on her back. She climbed up and coughed, trying hard not to throw up.  
"I can do this." She told herself. Holding her breath, she jumped on the pole and leapt to the ledge again. The lever was right before her. She ran towards it and was about to grab it when the pillar rotated and her hand caught nothing but thin air.  
She fell with a loud splash into the water and coughed hard.  
Get out of this! Get out of this filth! Her mind shrieked. She swam as fast as she could and hit her arm on the wall. More slime! She washed it away in the water and saw she had only managed to get even dirtier. She climbed back up and gasped for breath.  
She couldn't do this! It was too disgusting and there were three more levers that needed to be pulled. She gazed up and saw the last switch. If only she could grab it, she wouldn't have to go through the whole obstacle course.  
Pulling the crank, she started to jump towards the switch as it came down, but no matter how high she jumped or how far she stretched, her hands wouldn't reach it.  
As the crank made rapid ticking noises, she fell to her knees and felt ready to scream out in frustration. But she wouldn't let herself crumble. This wasn't the time to let her emotions which she had so carefully buried in the past few months to come surfacing. She would be emotionless and stronger.  
Getting up, she let her mind clear, before walking back to the crank and pulling on it. As the ticking began, Claudia moved quickly and leapt onto the ledge and finally was able to pull on the second switch.  
The movement of another long tile on the door was heard instantly and she felt herself relaxing. Just two more to go. She swung from the lever and reached a narrow area. Balancing herself, she ran up the wall and started to grab it when her hands slipped and she fell into the water.  
She splashed around and looked for a way to get out. But there was no ledge she could grab from here and she had no choice but to go back all the way.  
The tears were threatening to fall now, but she angrily pushed them back. She wouldn't cry. She had tried so hard to push away all her emotions and she was going to succeed no matter what. Her hands reached the landing and she pulled herself up. The water dripped onto the ground and she was aware of how wet and filthy she was.  
She closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She could do this. She just didn't have to think about him and everything would be fine. He was just a distraction and a fantasy.  
"Focus, Claudia." She told herself firmly.  
"That's good. Keep telling yourself that." It was his voice. But he wasn't here, he was in Firenze.  
She opened her eyes and wiped the water from her eyes. This was what it was like for her for the past two months. All she saw was his face when she closed her eyes and all she heard was his voice.  
She shook her head and focused on the switches and the door. The great white door had the treasure she sought and she would have it no matter what.  
"I can do this." She told herself.  
"I have my doubts regarding your procedure, but one never knows when one is suddenly blessed by fortune."  
Claudia turned sharply to see Machiavelli sitting down near the crank and pulling his knees up. He was watching her with an amused glint in his eyes and his lips twisted into a smirk. He was teasing her; taunting her mercilessly with his presence.  
But he wasn't really here. Just a figment of her imagination that had only one purpose and that was to torment her.  
She started to run, when she halted so suddenly that she almost stumbled back into the water. She had spent months thinking about him and wishing he was with her, but when had she actually seen him as a mirage?  
"You're really here?" she asked dazedly.  
Machiavelli shrugged. "I'm not a ghost. I am still very much alive." He grinned.


	41. Chapter 41

"What are you doing here?" she asked, aware that her heart was beating frantically in her chest.

"I have come to watch you in action." He replied and rested his hands on his raised knees. "So go on."

"How did you know I was here?" she asked and then the answer came to her. "Your spies. They told you?"

"I wasn't aware you would still be surprised. I had made it clear the last time that I have been keeping an eye on you." He looked smug and Claudia could feel herself getting irritated.

Why did he have to return? "And I made it clear that I didn't want that. Have you no respect for my privacy?"

"Not really." He was being haughty again.

"Just let me be. I have work to do." She turned back to the puzzle before her and tried to calm herself. Taking a deep breath, she was about to run towards the first ledge when Machiavelli spoke again.

"Aren't you going to pull on the lever first?"

Claudia gritted her teeth. "I was about to do that." She avoided meeting his gaze as she walked back to pull on the lever before running and pulling herself up on the ledges.

"I can do this." She kept muttering under her breath, but in her mind she was wondering what Machiavelli was doing here. She could feel his eyes on her and when she jumped on the narrow beam, she almost lost her footing.

She held her breath and then ran towards the third switch. But before she could even jump towards it, her foot slipped and she uttered a cry as she fell into the water.

Claudia flailed her arms and spluttered out the dirty water from her mouth. She swam towards the surface and found that she couldn't get up. Her hand kept slipping and she uttered a disgruntled groan. There was no other way but to swim all the way back to Machiavelli with a loud splash.

"Time's almost up." He said and his voice echoed all around her.

Claudia swam back to him and hoisted herself on the ridge. "Are you here to mock me?"

"No. I'm here to watch an Assassin unable to complete an obstacle course."

"Like you could do any better?" Claudia said. Water was dripping from her clothes and forming a puddle beneath her boots.

"I would, but it is your trial. You're the one who's going to get the reward in the end. What am I going to get?" Machiavelli shrugged coolly.

Claudia frowned at him. In all this time, she had never imagined he would have been so arrogant someday. "What has gotten into you?" she asked him.

Machiavelli dropped his smile. "I could ask you the same thing. What has gotten into you lately?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw the massacre as I came in." Machiavelli looked on gravely. "There were four guards lying dead by a bank. Another four near the guards post. And here? You snapped a guard's neck and slaughtered the others."

Claudia felt anger rising up her throat. "I am an Assassin, remember? I need to get the job done quickly. There was a codex page in the bank and I really didn't think it was a good idea to walk up to them and ask them to let me in."

"That's not the point!" Machiavelli stood up. "You are becoming barbaric."

"And I have to say this again." Claudia retorted. "Let me be. I know what I'm doing."

She walked past him and pulled on the lever again. As it rotated and the ticking began, Claudia ran and made her way over to the poles. Her mind was devoid of thought as she crossed each area until she reached towards the third switch. She had slipped on the narrow ledge here, so she would have to be careful. Holding her breath, she lunged and grabbed it.

The switch lowered and she heard another tile slip into place on the main door. Machiavelli was concerned needlessly. She had become quite adept and could tell right from wrong. She didn't need him or his advice any more. She swung on the pole and then leapt on the walkway.

She almost slipped again and was dimly aware that her heart had that same dull ache whenever she thought about Machiavelli that way. She blocked all those thoughts and focused on the narrow beams in front of her. They were covered in slime and water was still running down the walls.

The ticking was hastening and with it was her heartbeat. She was so close. No more mistakes. She leapt from one broken pillar to another and then came to a landing. She stared at the swing poles in front of her and saw Machiavelli gazing up at her. Ignoring him, she swung on the pole and as the ticking started to get even faster, she jumped and missed her landing.

She fell down across from Machiavelli and heard the sounds of the switches going back to their position.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Machiavelli asked coming towards her.

Claudia looked down at the bruises forming on her hands and the green slime under her fingernails.

"Claudia?"

She looked up at him and then burst into tears. Machiavelli came over to her and was about to put his hand to her when she pushed herself into his arms.

"I can't do this!" she wailed. "I can't!"

Machiavelli appeared to be stunned by her reaction, but didn't push away. He put his arms around her and stroked her upper arms.

"It's too hard." She cried and then suddenly realized that the words coming out of her mouth weren't about this obstacle. They were about her trying to let Machiavelli go and not wanting to feel anything for him.

For the first time in months, the pain in her heart started to ebb as her tears fell.

"You can do this." He told her comfortingly. "You are strong and skillful. This is only as hard as you imagine it. If you put your mind to it you can accomplish this and…"

"I don't want to!" she almost screamed.

Machiavelli took her face in his hands. "Bene. Don't do it then. You don't have to do this today. We could come back tomorrow and try again when you're well rested."

Claudia sniffed and then saw that his clothes had become wet as well. "I…I got your clothes wet." She replied numbly.

Machiavelli looked down at himself and smiled. "Si, you have. But it doesn't matter. Now let's go."

He started to pull her up but she shook her head. "No. I want to finish this."

"If you are too tired then we could always come back some other day."

Claudia wiped her tears and looked all around her. "There has to be another way. Perhaps you could help."

"How?"

"You could make sure the lever doesn't turn back. Or…or you could help me reach the last lever from here." She walked towards the switch and then craned her neck to study it.

Machiavelli came to stand beside her. "Hmmm. Perhaps I could. Of course then I would keep the Armor all to myself."

Claudia turned sharply. "What?"

"I'm helping you so I deserve the prize as well."

"I did the others. There's still another left after this but I did all the others."

Machiavelli shrugged. "Clearly this is more challenging than the others so I deserve some compensation for my hard work."

Claudia blinked at him before realizing that Machiavelli was only teasing her.

He grinned at her. "This is something you have to do, Claudia. It is your test to see if you deserve such a reward. You must earn the Armor."

"But it's impossible." She said in frustration. "I've tried and tried, but I keep slipping. The walls are covered in slime, the water is murky and the whole place smells!"

"And that is what the problem is." Machiavelli told her. "You are so focused on your environment that you're missing the target. Your focus must only be on the switch and not what you're stepping on."

Claudia nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose you are right."

"Besides, you can always take a bath later."

She smiled at him. "I shall try."

"And succeed." Machiavelli said and headed back to the lever. "Now remember, if at any time you feel your concentration slipping, just bring yourself back and focus."

Claudia nodded and when he pulled on the lever, she ran. Her mind was clear and she kept gazing at the switch on the other side of the room. When she finally reached the landing, she looked down and saw Machiavelli smiling encouragingly at her. Taking a deep breath, she leapt and caught the rod. She swung from it and landed safely on the broken landing. She ran up it and grabbed the last switch and pulled it down.

The last tile fell into place and the majestic door retracted and then slid open.

Claudia swung on the switch and landed right beside Machiavelli. "I did it!" she said excitedly.

"I knew you could." He said. "Shall we?"

Claudia smiled back at him. "Sure."

They jumped across to the broken landing and made their way inside the secret room where lay the sarcophagus, surrounded by gold pots and jeweled statues.

Claudia swirled all around the room. "It is so magnificent here."

"Indeed." Machiavelli replied, studying the room. "Were the others like this as well?"

"Si. But somehow this one feels even grander."

"That's because it's the fruit of hard labor."

Claudia went over to the sarcophagus, slid in her Hidden Blade and opened it up. She picked out the seal and closed the lid.

Machiavelli came beside her. "A sword." He said.

Claudia traced her fingers on the engraving. "Hmmm."

"Let us go now." He said. "We are being expected."

Claudia snapped out from her daze. "By whom?"

Machiavelli smiled. "It is a surprise."


	42. Chapter 42

Claudia was shivering as they walked out into the dark streets. Her wet clothes clung to her and every gentle breeze that brushed against her felt as if she were being plunged into icy water over and over again.

When she shuddered again, Machiavelli noticed it and reached into the pockets of his dark robes and pulled out a bundle of clothing. He unraveled it and Claudia saw that it was her cloak.

"How do you have this?" she asked when he draped it over her shoulders.

"Remember the night you assassinated the Doge?"

Claudia pulled the cloak closer around her and nodded. She was freezing and realized embarrassingly that she probably smelled as well. "I thought it was lost."

"It was part of your Father's uniform. I know how dear it is to you."

Claudia lowered her eyes and they walked in silence. Her thoughts returned back to what he had just said and she was so grateful to him for being so considerate and respectful. She had thought that the cloak would have been lost forever after she had given it to Machiavelli, but to think that even after all the chaos that had been surrounding them, he had still managed to hold onto the cloak for her, made her respect him more.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Machiavelli retained his stoic expression, but she had seen a glimmer of amusement in his eyes and she looked all around her and understood why.

They were heading towards Leonardo's Bottega; a place she hadn't been in since Machiavelli had left for Firenze. She had been avoiding Leonardo and his teasing but now it seemed there was no escape. Why was he taking her there anyway?

She brushed the hair out of her eyes and wondered if she should make some hackneyed excuse to go anywhere else but here. What could she say? That she had sprained her ankle? Her stomach hurt? Her head?

She put her hand on her forehead and was about to speak to Machiavelli, when he walked over to the door and knocked twice.

The door opened and Leonardo stepped out. "Ah! You're here!" he said happily. "And you've brought a _straniero_ along."

Claudia blushed and mumbled a greeting to him.

"Come on in." Leonardo said. "The dinner is ready."

Machiavelli walked inside and spoke quietly. "That is very kind. But Claudia will need to change her clothes."

Leonardo studied her then and Claudia felt even more conscious as the two men looked at her. She imagined she must look quite a sight with her hair damp and tousled, her usually pristine white robes smeared with dirt and slime and she was afraid she reeked.

"Ah, of course. I'll have my assistant lay out her clothes. She left some things here the last time." Leonardo said.

"Grazie mille." Machiavelli said.

"And you could use a wash yourself." He remarked and Claudia cringed. It was her fault Machiavelli's robes were ruined. She shouldn't have embraced him and dampened his clothes. In fact, she shouldn't have embraced him at all.

Claudia plodded upstairs and found a tub filled with warm water waiting for her. She closed the door, shed her dirty clothes and stepped into the tub.

The water was faintly scented and so nice and warm that she lulled completely into it. It had been too long since she had last taken a proper bath and the candles lit around the room, reminded her to do this more often.

Downstairs, she could hear the muffled voices of the two men, but even that sounded so soothing to her right now. She let her head slip into the water and held her breath. She held it as long as she could and then sat up straight. Wiping the droplets of water from her face, she found herself immersing into another memory.

When she had been fifteen, she, along with her brothers had gone to play near the Arno River when Ezio had suddenly pushed her into the water.

She had cried and her brothers had only laughed.

"_Come, piccina, swim!" Federico had said._

"_I don't know how! Help me out!" Claudia had spluttered. _

_Petruccio had been standing near the staircases and had burst out laughing. "Look at her. The water isn't even that deep."_

"_Father will know of this!" she had warned and pulling herself out she had uttered through gritted teeth. "Luridi cani!" _

"_The mouth on our little sister!" Federico had remarked and nudged Ezio playfully. _

_Ezio had laughed, but helped her get up. "We were trying to teach you to swim."_

"_By throwing me into the water? Besides, I don't want to!"_

"_But what if your precious Duccio is drowning one day. What will you do then?" Federico asked, trying to keep a straight face but failing._

"_Or perhaps would you prefer letting him drown?" Ezio winked at her._

"_Zitto! I'm going to tell Father this very instant." But the second she had moved, Ezio had pushed her into the water again. _

"_You can complain all you want. But now it is time for your first lesson." Ezio said and jumped into the water too. _

_For the next two hours, her brothers showed her how to use her arms and legs and finally, she had been able to swim a few strokes. As soon as she reached home, she had gone into her Father's office and complained. _

_Her Father had called her brothers, but instead of scolding them, he had burst out laughing and praised his sons for teaching their sister a useful skill._

_Claudia had pouted and put her hands on her hips. "Then I shall tell Mother that you ruined the new dress she had stitched for me."_

Claudia opened her eyes and laughed. Her Father had immediately paled and her brothers had pleaded with her not to do so or they may not get their dinner. She leaned back into the tub and found herself feeling elated. She had finally come to a point where the memories of her family didn't draw pain, but a bit of happiness.

Perhaps, it had something to do with being an Assassin, she thought to herself. The fact that she was killing their enemies made her feel like she was finally coming to terms with their deaths. They were gone and they were avenged. Well, almost. There were still a few enemies she would want to eliminate.

Claudia cleaned herself and then stepped out of the tub and dried herself off with a coarse linen cloth. She headed towards the bed and saw a pale pink dress laid out. It had soft delicate lace on it and Claudia frowned. She didn't own this and by the looks of this, it looked newly stitched.

She shrugged, knowing there was no other choice and slipped it over her head. Stepping in front of the mirror, she couldn't help but feel pleased at the sight. It had been so long since she had worn a dress, especially one as beautiful as this and even though she loved her Father's robes, she missed wearing dresses and doing up her hair.

She sat down on the stool and picked up a brush. Her hair was still wet and she didn't want to tie it up right now. Using her brush, she pondered on what dinner they would be having. For months, she hadn't sat down to a proper meal. All she had eaten were a few vegetables and a tiny loaf of bread in the past few weeks. More than anything, she was starting to miss her Mother's cooking.

Someone knocked on the door and she saw it was Leonardo from the reflection in the mirror. "May I come in?" he asked, poking his head inside.

"Si." She said and put down the brush.

Leonardo closed the door behind him and then shuffled his feet. He crossed his arms and then uncrossed them all the while averting his eyes from her.

"This doesn't look like one of my dresses." She said idly. "I don't recall owning anything so exquisite. I mean I used to, but they were all left in Firenze when we had to run." She was babbling and aware how uncomfortable she felt around her friend. At the back of her mind, she feared he would tease her and she would have to confront her own feelings about Machiavelli. How could she, when she didn't understand what she was feeling?

"It was newly bought." Leonardo scratched his head and looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. "For you. He bought it."

There was silence for a few moments as Claudia processed this. She stared at Leonardo's reflection in the mirror and saw him looking uneasy, as if he were partly scared and partly apologetic.

"Is there something you want to say?" Claudia turned around to face him.

"I don't know how to begin." He said nervously. "Clearly I must have offended you for you to avoid me for weeks."

"No, Leonardo." Claudia got up and clasped her hands. "I was just busy."

Leonardo raised his eyebrow. "Davvero? That is not what I heard though. In fact, Niccolò was really concerned about you when he came barging into my bottega the other day."

"What? I mean….what?"

"Si. I was working on my canvas, when the door bursts open and he walks in and demanded to know where you were and if I had fought with you." He said.

Claudia pushed a tendril of her hair behind her ear. "Why would he think that?"

"He told me that you haven't even contacted your Mother and have been behaving aggressively." Leonardo shivered. "He was certain that I had something to do with it and I think…he was going to hurt me."

"Niccolò wouldn't do that." Claudia told him.

Leonardo gave a noncommittal shrug. "That's what he told me. He said, the only reason he was letting me go was because I was his wife's friend."

Claudia felt her heart skip a beat. Wife. He had used that word- that term….for her!

Leonardo walked over to her and placed one hand on her upper arm. "So tell me, Claudia. Was it something I said? Was it because I was teasing you?"

Claudia shook her head quickly. "No." she took his hand in his and shook her head again. "It wasn't you. I just had some…" she swallowed and tried to think of a suitable lie. "Work."

Leonardo lowered his eyes and spoke softly. "He really cares for you."

Claudia bit her lip and looked away from him. She wanted to believe every single word he was saying, but how could she forget that it was because of her that he wasn't on speaking terms with his own family, or that he was also coerced into marrying her. If she hadn't told him about Duccio and the effect his disappearance would have on her Mother's health, then perhaps he wouldn't have felt obligated to take this step.

"Basta. We shall talk no more of this if you don't want to. Let us go downstairs now." Leonardo tugged gently at her elbow, but Claudia didn't budge.

"No. My hair is still damp and I have yet to tie it up."

"There is no need for that. You shall be dining among friends." Leonardo paused, his eyes twinkling. "I mean me and your husband."

Claudia blushed and then followed him downstairs where Machiavelli was waiting. He was studying a book from the lone bookshelf in the room and then closed it when they arrived.

"Let us dine." Leonardo announced and his servants quickly started to set the table.

Claudia came down the stairs carefully; her mind on what Leonardo had told her. Machiavelli did really care for her, but why was she so displeased with the thought that he might just care for her as a friend?

"Do you feel better now?" Machiavelli asked, standing by the foot of the stairs.

"What?" she asked unthinkingly.

"As far as I know, you were rather flustered by your former state."

Claudia tried to pay attention to what he was saying, but all she could imagine was Machiavelli barging in Leonardo's door and asking for her.

"You must be tired." He said kindly and then took her hand. Claudia caught her breath, aware of his touch and also the unnamed feelings that were overwhelming her. He took her over to the dining table and made her sit on one end, while he sat across her. Leonardo took his place by Niccolò and instantly started to talk to him about politics and art.

Claudia could barely pay attention to the conversation especially when the food was brought in. She could feel her stomach grumbling at the prospect of finally eating a hot meal after such a long time. As soon as the bowl of broth was placed in front of her, she picked up her spoon and started to eat, careful not appear like a glutton.

"So how goes your work in Firenze?" Leonardo asked.

"There isn't much to talk about yet." He appeared not too keen on discussing it, but Leonardo was waiting for a complete answer and Machiavelli relented. "My work requires me to travel a lot at the moment."

Claudia dipped her spoon in and then tore a piece of bread. As more dishes were brought in, Claudia only focused on her plate. Only in the back of her mind was she wondering since when Leonardo and Machiavelli had come to friendly terms considering what her friend had just told her. Either Leonardo was too friendly, or Machiavelli must have apologized.

Claudia chewed thoughtfully while the conversation turned to art. Leonardo began discussing his paintings and an invention he was working on.

"I can make a man fly." He boasted. "I only need a test subject….to…er…test it."

Machiavelli laughed. "Not me, amico."

"Well if you ever change your mind…."

Claudia smiled at them and was glad the two men were ignoring her, for she was now sure she must look famished the way she was piling up her plate with food.

"Not likely. So what else are you painting nowadays?"

From there on, Leonardo was doing all the talking and it was only when Claudia was reaching for a glass of water that she looked up to see Machiavelli staring at her.

She retracted her hand and felt her face getting warmer. How long had he been looking at her? Her hand went over to her face and then to her damp hair, wishing he wouldn't look at her so. There was something about the way he was watching her that made her feel like she was the only person in the world and there was no one else he wanted to be even aware of.

Claudia lowered her eyes, suddenly not hungry anymore. The warm feelings had returned and she was now beginning to wonder is she was developing deeper feelings for him. When she peeked another glance, she was horrified to see that Machiavelli was still looking at her and now Leonardo was too. When had he stopped talking?

She saw the teasing glint in Leonardo's eyes and was afraid he was going to say something in front of Machiavelli.

"Let us have some tea." Leonardo said in a controlled voice. He was obviously laughing, but taking great pains to not make it so obvious. He called for his servants but Machiavelli stopped him.

"It is getting late and we must leave." He said.

Claudia clutched at the table, suddenly nervous. Did he just say 'we'? Where were they going?

"Capito!" Leonardo said a bit too excitedly and Claudia threw an angry look at him while silently begging not to tease her in front of Machiavelli. Anything but that!

She got up slowly and when Leonardo walked them to the door, Machiavelli grabbed her hand and placed it on his arm.

"Grazie for the dinner." Niccolò said.

"Prego." Then he turned to her. "And don't forget to come visit me." He told her.

"Certamente." Claudia said in a strangled voice. Being so close to Machiavelli was making her feel giddy.

When the door closed, Machiavelli started to walk and Claudia walked with him, still very aware of her hand under his arm.

"Where are we going?" she asked moments later.

"I have something to show you." He said, smiling at her.


	43. Chapter 43

"Where are we going?"

Machiavelli sighed impatiently. "You've asked me five times in the past five minutes."

"And you haven't even answered once." Claudia told him.

"Like I mentioned, I have something to show you."

"What is it?"

Machiavelli gave another sigh and then gently squeezed her hand. "Tell me this, Claudia. How much have you seen of Venezia?"

"Plenty. I've seen the Squero di San Trovaso, much of Dorsudoro district and then…." Claudia was ticking the names on her fingers and then paused when she saw Machiavelli's wry smile.

"My point exactly."

"But you haven't made one." Claudia countered.

"Then I shall this very instant." Machiavelli stopped and let go of her hand. Claudia felt a twinge of disappointment, but tried to take her mind of this sudden feeling of emptiness.

"We've walked here for quite some time and I've noticed that although you were quiet for the first few minutes, you began asking questions about your whereabouts."

"Oh, so it's a test to see how much I know Venezia." Claudia frowned.

"Rather it's a test of something else and you've failed terribly." Machiavelli said. "Instead of enjoying this beautiful night and this wonderful place, you've only thought about where you were going."

Claudia looked all around her, taking in the blue calm of the waters and the moonlight throwing its silvery rays on the surface, making the gentle flow of water seem like a thousand gems glittering. Three gondolas gently bobbed near the docks, alongside the green and blue striped poles. Further away a gondolier was taking across a middle aged couple and she could hear their soft toned banter from here.

Somewhere near where she and Machiavelli were standing, she could hear the melodious plucking of the lute and a ballad being sung in a harmonious tone. As the sky grew even darker, more lanterns lit up sequentially along the side of the street and she turned all around her, as if seeing this city for the first time. She had never before noticed how wonderfully intricate the facades of the buildings were. The design and the art was etched meticulously along the side and the buildings were either painted red or yellow. When she stood closer to the water, she saw the small bridges spanning over the canals, making it easy for the pedestrians to cross from one area to another. Even these bridges looked beautiful to her in this wonderful moonlit night.

Taking a deep breath she could smell the faint odor of freshly prepared dyes, some spice she couldn't identify and fish. She wrinkled her nose and stepped away from the water, looking at the towers in the distance and even the bell tower. Everything looked so ethereal; how had she not notice all this before?

"Do you see it now?" Machiavelli whispered and she shivered.

She crossed her arms. "So I've noticed. Now what? I am an Assassin now. Aren't you glad I'm more focused on my work?"

"No." Machiavelli suddenly grew solemn. "I never wanted you to become an Assassin in the first place because as much as you are doing to change the world, it also changes you."

Claudia chewed on the inside of her lip and then looked at the people around her. There was a woman walking arm in arm with a man and Claudia envied them. They looked like husband and wife- a normal couple with a normal life. Would she ever have a normal relationship like them?

"You're wrong." She said. "I'm the same woman who had her family torn away from her and had nothing for quite a while, until you came along. This has given me purpose."

Machiavelli looked at her sadly. "It has changed you. I know about the killings." He said.

"Killings? You mean the deaths of Templars." Claudia started to get irritated. Was Machiavelli implying she was on a murderous rampage?

"Unnecessary deaths." Machiavelli corrected her. "We work in the dark, in the shadows and don't kill innocent people. You may have very well broken the main tenets of our Order."

"They weren't!" Claudia retorted.

"The guard in the tomb." Machiavelli said. "You snapped his neck."

"I…"

"Those four others were slaughtered inside. I saw their bodies. Not to mention the others before. I have been keeping an eye on you, remember?" Machiavelli looked visibly upset. "The guards stationed near banks, the countless others on rooftops."

"I didn't have a choice!" Claudia said. "If they spotted me, they wouldn't have shown me mercy, now would they?"

"You have the option to run and hide. You've been taught those maneuvers as well. Not to mention the most useful one of them of all- Distraction."

Claudia scowled but knew that on some level, he was telling the truth, but somehow she had been reckless. Had she turned into a monster who enjoyed killing people for fun? The answer to that question was something she didn't want to know as it would haunt her forever if it were a yes.

Machiavelli took her hand again and Claudia immediately felt safe again as her fears disappeared.

"The mistakes you made were not only yours." Machiavelli said kindly. "It is the fault your teachers as well and mine. Come, let me show you how."

Claudia let him lead her and felt her heart easing but also fluttering in excitement. Walking with him like that must have a lot of people around, mistaking them for a normal married couple.

"See that?" Machiavelli pointed ahead and Claudia snapped herself from her thoughts.

"It is a bank and I think I can spot a codex page from here." She stood on tiptoes and cocked her head. "Si, the box in the center undoubtedly holds a codex page. I've seen chests like those before."

"And now tell me, what would you do." He asked her.

Claudia loosened the laces on her sleeves and let her Hidden blades spring out. "I have an idea."

Machiavelli sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't be wearing them."

"Why not? I am an Assassin. I cannot be without a weapon. That is what Zio Mario taught me." Claudia said.

"Bene." Machiavelli said frustrated. "Now instead of killing these people who are only following instructions…" he emphasized greatly on the last word. "How are you going to get to that chest?"

Claudia walked closer, careful to avoid suspicion. They were ten feet away and the four guards stationed did not look too threatening. She could easily take them, but Machiavelli had specified she not use her weapons.

"Oh! I forgot to bring my smoke bombs." Claudia said, slapping her forehead.

"Splendido! Now what are you going to do Claudia?" he asked, smiling.

Claudia shook her head. "I do not know."

"E semplice." He said and headed towards a group of thieves standing on a low rooftop. He threw up a small pouch and the leader of the thieves caught it. "You ask for help."

The thieves immediately jumped down and at Machiavelli's instructions went over to the guards near the bank. They frolicked near them and then one of them snatched the Capitano's pouch.

"Hey! Give it back!" he yelled. The thieves pushed him back and the guard stumbled. "Get them ragazzi!"

The thieves quickly ran away and the guards chased after them, leaving their post unattended.

"See?" Machiavelli said.

Claudia smiled. "Bene. That did work." She admitted and they went inside the back to collect the codex page.

"And you could use the courtesans as well." Machiavelli told her as they came out.

"I doubt they'll be able to run with as much speed as the thieves." Claudia said. "They could be hurt if they try to provoke the guards as they have received no training."

"That is not why we use the courtesans." He took her hand once again and led her down the street. "There's another bank here with a chest. Perhaps it may contain another codex page."

Claudia couldn't help but feel thrilled. She had been told and taught that stealing was wrong, but now as she was raiding the chest, she had felt excitement fluttering inside her like a bird, trying to get free. Besides, Machiavelli was right. When she had opened chests before, she had felt like she was taking her reward for her efforts. This was stealing, but after all the codex pages did belong to the Assassins.

Machiavelli led her to another bank and then asked her to wait as he went over to speak to a group of courtesans. She saw one of them, playfully stroke Machiavelli's arm and Claudia let out a sharp breath.

When he returned, she collected herself so that he wouldn't notice how irked she was at the courtesan for flirting with him. "I can't imagine what they can possibly do." She said a bit harshly and checked her tone. "I mean, these guards won't be swayed so easily."

"Watch." Machiavelli said, his eyes on the group of courtesans as they walked seductively towards the bank.

Claudia crossed her arms and wished he would stop looking at them. She took out a ribbon and tied up her hair, cursing the courtesans silently.

"Sometimes they are even more effective than the thieves." Machiavelli said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Hmmm." She started to absently tug on the lace of her sleeve and then stopped herself from tearing it.

"You're not watching."

"I am. I'm just not ogling at them."

Machiavelli looked at her then, but Claudia bit the inside of her lip and kept staring ahead. What was she saying? She had to control her words!

She was sure the courtesans would fail, and even secretly hoping they would, but as they began to move their hips and sing softly, the guards were immediately captivated and had moved away from their posts, but not very far.

"Andiamo." He took her hand and walked right towards them.

"They'll spot us." She whispered. "You said I shouldn't use my weapons, but if they…"

"You have to promise not to use your weapons tonight." Machiavelli said firmly and continued to walk towards them. "Now don't say a word. We must be quiet."

"We'll be caught!" she whispered, but could feel her heart beating excitedly. The prospect of Machiavelli's plan actually working was making her feel alive in a way she hadn't before. This was so much better than her usual mode of operation. But could they actually slip in without being noticed?

She squeezed his hand when they walked right between the guards and the courtesans and then covered her mouth to stop her laughter from bubbling out when they were inside. "We did it!" she said, closing the door behind her. "They didn't even notice us!"

"I told you it would work." Machiavelli said.

"I thought for sure we would be noticed!" Claudia couldn't stop herself from giggling. "Those guards are stolti."

"Claudia…"

She clutched her stomach and tried to suppress her laughter, but it was futile. The after effect of this mission was getting to her and she couldn't stop herself from replaying the image over and over again of the guards lusting after the courtesans who were obviously tricking them. "How are men so easily enticed, is something I can never imagine."

She turned to look at Machiavelli then and saw him looking at her seriously. His expressions were unreadable, but it made her heart skip a beat exactly as it had done while they were having dinner. What was he thinking? She couldn't bring herself to ask this, because she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

She looked away and walked over to the chest. "We should….take the page and leave."

Machiavelli caught her hand. "It's empty."

Claudia stared at him wide-eyed then looked at the room around her. She had been here before. The painting on the wall was familiar and so was the desk. Except the last time, she had killed all of the guards and then entered.

"Oh." She said in a small voice.

Machiavelli moved forward and she instinctively took a step back, suddenly afraid. They were all alone and she had closed the door. She wanted to pull her hand away from his grip, but the way he was looking at her again was making her weak.

She wanted to make some excuse to get out of here, but she was mesmerized by his loving gaze. He backed her against the wall and Claudia gasped. He dropped her hand and let his hand trail up to lightly brush her cheek. His fingers moved upward to slip the ribbon out of her hair and she saw him drop it and touch her hair lovingly.

His hand then pulled up her chin up and he lowered his head. When he touched his lips on hers, Claudia held her breath and her hand gripped his upper arm. He kissed her gently, coaxing her into submission until all she could do was to succumb to him.

His kisses then moved down the side of her neck, leaving her completely breathless before he kissed her lips again, this time deeply and more passionately.

When he drew back, Claudia felt almost cold and then warm again when he bent his head to her ear.

"I love you." He whispered.

Claudia sucked in her breath and looked up at him unblinkingly. Had he really uttered those words? She pushed away from him and she saw a flash of disappointment on his face.

"We should go." He said, opening the door.

Claudia wanted to stop him and tell him…what? She had to stop him but her voice betrayed her. She watched him walk away and felt as if she had been torn apart.


End file.
